Floating memories
by mahsa
Summary: A one night stand that absolutely should not have happened, a stupid self inflicted accident on a boat, memory loss, a pregnancy and a very nice nurse at a hospital in Monaco. What does that add up to? Well, this multi cast story of course! Read&Review!
1. Prologue

**AN:**

 **As always I do not own a thing!**

 **On November 16th 2017 there was an episode of BB that screwed every Steffy-fan over completely and based on spoilers for the next few weeks, I posted a suggestion over at soapcentrals message board and here's what I came up with. I am going to assume that Steffy, for an unknown reason right now, follows Bill to the boat and here the story starts.**

 **I hope you've had a good Christmas and New Years!**

Floating memories

 **Prologue**

 _December 4th 2017_

 _Mediterranean Sea_

 _Stella Maris_

 _4:52 am_

This would be the only chance she'd have to leave him, so she got out of the bed they were sharing and walked out on the deck to look out on the ocean. She sighs and walks back inside.

She had decided that she was going to tell Liam about sleeping with Bill the moment she comes home. She was going to take the concequences of her mistake and live with the repercussions. Living like this was not something she could do.

She looks over at the man in the bed with disgust in her eyes. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for all those sweet words he had told her while she broke down. It had felt nice knowing you were needed and loved for just being you. When he first kissed her, she felt complete in a weird way, it didn't make sense, because she felt complete when her and Liam kissed as well. She guessed it was a piece left behind from their affair six years ago and maybe she was experiencing a flashback to the night they almost made love before her mother interrupted them because she was just going through the motions.

The feeling of his hands all over her back felt nice and she just let herself go. Waking up after it was over caused so many emotions to flood into her body that she panicked and she knew what they had done was a mistake. She knew she'd been a willing participant, but deep in her heart she knew she hadn't wanted to have sex with Bill. But it had happened and she would take responsibility for it, it wasn't that she wanted Liam to know, but it was taking a toll on their marriage and she just couldn't let this continue.

Coming home to Liam that early morning was like coming home, she just wished she had the courage to tell him right then, but he'd been so sweet and comforting that she had just let him sweep her with him. The vow renewal had been the wrong thing to go along with and Bills reaction to it just made it more clear then ever.

He had screamed at her and almost struck her. It was the first time she was actually scared of him and she knew that the friendship they had before they slept together would never be possible again. If Liam did decided that he could forgive her, she knew he'd never forgive his father for it and that was just something they'd have to live with.

Then he said that if she didn't come with him on this trip, he would tell Liam that she'd seduced him and she knew that Liam would never forgive her if he was told that lie. So, she had resigned herself to her fate and gone home to pack her bags.

She lied to Liam that she was going to go on a trip to buy fabrics and Liam told her to have fun because he couldn't come seeing that his father had put a bigger workload on him then ever before.

But she couldn't do it anymore. She needed to free herself from Bills clutches and free Liam from this marriage if he felt he couldn't stay in it.

She leaves the yachts bedroom once again and goes to the back of the boat. She sits down on the edge and as she's about to slip into the water, her nightgown gets caught in something and she hits her head on the railing.

She slowly slides down into the water and hears the yacht slowly move away. A few minutes later, she looses conciousness and drifts off in a dream of long forgotten memories.

 **AN:**

 **This is a multichapter story, how many I have no idea, but at the time of posting this prologue I have _ chapters written.**

 **I plan to post one chapter potentially every 3 weeks until I don't have any more, so we'll just have to see how many updates this story contains.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN:**

 **I do not own a single thing when it comes to the show and I have not bought the characters that have not been on the show.**

 **I also don't know if there is a boat in the Mediterranean that's called Lovingly Yours.**

 **I have not read French for quite some time now, so I'm using Google translate for that particular part of this chapter, if there's anything wrong, let me know and I'll fix it!**

 **Conversations taking place in another language in the part that takes place on January 18th is in Swedish and there will be a translation in the AN at the end of the chapter.**

 **Yes, apparently Steffy speaks french.**

Floating Memories

 **Chapter one**

 _December 4th 2017_

 _Mediterranean Sea_

 _Lovingly Yours_

 _5:32 am_

Marcus Ericsson and his friends are on their way back to Monte Carlo when they come across a woman floating in the Mediterranean Sea.

"Woman overboard!" He jumps in and gets to her and notice that she is breathing, but he can't make any contact with her. Then he notices the cut on the side of her head.

He pulls her with him and as he reaches Lovingly Yours he notice that his friends have gathered to help him out.

"There's a cut on her head" He sees Michael put his hands under her arms and gently pull her towards him, Alexander then grabs a hold of her legs and they put her on one of the tanning chairs they had put there.

"I wonder who she is."

Maria comes walking down the stairs and hears the bewilderment in her brothers voice. "She kind of looks familiar."

"We need to get her to a hospital." He looks over at his sister. "Can you go tell the captain to get us back to harbour?"

"Sure thing!" Maria walks back up the stairs. She hears him call out to her to get some clothes as well to get the woman out of the wet night gown she's wearing.

She walks to the captains quarters first and knocks gently at the door.

The captain comes and opens the door. "Hi! We need to get to a harbour near a hospital as soon as we can, we just picked up a woman floating in the ocean and she's got a cut on her head."

The captain just nods his head and walks up to the deck and starts to navigate towards the nearest harbour.

Maria makes her way to her cabin and finds a pair of sweats, a hoodie and a bikini, then she walks back to the back of the boat.

"Hey boys, you might want to leave for this." She raises her eyebrows when they look at her questioningly. "That's a woman, you three are men, you really think she'd want you to see her private parts? Besides, I'm a nurse, I've seen worse."

She then waves her arms to make them leave. "Shoo!"

She watches them leave before she starts reaching up under the nightgown and pulls the womans underwear off, then takes the bikinibottoms and pulls them up her legs, then she pulls the sweatpants up her legs before turning her attention over to the nightgown itself.

She pulls it up so that it covers the womans breasts, then puts the bikini top on her and then pulls the nightgown of. She puts the hoodie on her and then goes and gets a blanket to warm her up even more. She sees the boys on her way back to the woman.

"We might have to put her in a bed or something that looks like a bed."

Alexander points to the couch at the front of the boat and Maria nods her head and throws the blanket towards him.

"You two come with me!"

Michael and Marcus follows behind her as she explains what she wants them to do.

When they come back, they're carrying the tanningbed with the woman still on it and they see that Alexander had laid the blanket so that they could lay the woman down on it and then fold it over her as well. He had also gone and gotten some more blankets and a pillow for her to rest her head on, there was also a towel laid on top of the pillow laying so it could be put over the womans head.

~Floating memories~

 _January 4th 2018_

 _Princess Grace Hospital_

 _Monaco_

She had stopped floating and the cold that had been there was gone. There were voices talking around her, but she didn't want to wake up. She had no idea where she was and she didn't really want to find out.

" _Regardez, elle ouvre les yeux!"_

She just groans and closes her eyes again, drifting back off to sleep. Her head is hurting and she really doesn't want to come back to reality.

" _Que devrions-nous faire, Docteur?"_

The doctor answers the nurse saying that they can't do much more until the mystery woman decides to open her eyes and talk to them. They just need to take their time with this one.

" _Mais elle est là depuis plus d'un mois!"_

" _Oui, mais on ne peut pas la forcer. Elle n'est pas encore prête!"_

The nurse then let´s it go.

~Floating memories~

An hour or so later, she can feel that she's alone, so she opens her eyes and looks around the hospital room.

The reason she didn't want to wake up was because she had no idea who she was. The woman she sees when she looks into the mirror is a complete stranger to her and she has no idea what her name is or even what the tattoo that's on her hip means.

She knows she's probably been married before because there are the tell tell signs of a ring on her ringfinger, then there's the tattoo that's been removed as well.

" _No, mais regarde, elle a ouvert les yeux. Comment ca va?"_ The nurse from before has poked her head through the door and then comes walking into the room smiling.

" _Excusez-moi? Qui suis je?"_ The nurse looks at her with confusion in her eyes.

" _Que veux-tu dire?"_

" _Sais-tu qui je suis?"_ The woman looks at the nurse with herbig brown eyes with tears in them.

" _Non, malheureusement pas!"_ The nurse walks over to the bed and sits down.

" _Comment suis-je arrivé ici?"_

" _Un groupe de jeunes cous a trouvé flottant au milieu de la Méditerranée. Ils cous ont amené ici et maintenant cous êtes ici depuis une mois."_

" _D'accord!"_ The woman curls up in a fetal position on the bed and starts crying.

~Floating memories~

On the other side of the Atlantic, Liam Spencer was going crazy having not heard from his wife for the last four and a half weeks.

Steffy had not said how long she'd be gone, but she had never missed a phone call to let him know she was okay before and now she hadn't answered her phone in over four and half weeks.

He didn't even know where she'd gone so he couldn't call around to hospitals in the region to find out if they had a patient there matching the description of his wife.

When his father came home a week after Steffy stopped calling him, he had been even more skiddish then before he left for a trip a few days before Steffy did. If you walked up on him and even remotely scared him he'd jump out of his skin and then start yelling at you.

He was acting weird and it was getting on Liam´s nerves.

He had spent days trying to get information from Steffy's parents and her brother, but they didn't know anything either.

He had reported her disappearance to the police and he had even called Hope in a desperate attemtpt to find his missing wife. When they hung up, neither of them knew that Steffy was just over four hours down the railway from Hope.

Liam just knew that Steffy wasn't doing this on purpose, he knew there was no way she was punishing him for the kisses he'd shared with Sally Spectra. Something had happened and there had to be something he could do.

There just had to be. So he did what ever he could think of.

~Floating memories~

 _January 5th 2018_

 _Paris, France_

Taylor Hamilton was only going through the motions now, her daughter was missing and no one knew where she was. When she'd called Ridge to ask what buying trip he had sent her on, he had no idea what she was talking about causing the riddle to increase in size even more.

She had called Bill Spencer and asked that he did the best he could to find out where Steffy was, he just grunted and said that Steffy had probably had enough of Liam´s crap and then he hung up causing Taylor to wonder what was wrong with the man.

She had called Wyatt and asked if he felt Bill was acting strange and he agreed with her and told her about a few times when Bill had acted really strange and how he acted every time Steffy´s name was mentioned.

Because of all this, Taylor had started to believe that Bill was somehow involved, she couldn't be sure however.

Taylor had sent out a 'Missing person'-flyer to all the hospitals in France in the hope that she'd find her daughter, she also sent one to the hospitals in Italy.

But no one got back to her and the hope of finding her daughter alive diminished greatly every day.

~Floating memories~

 _January 18th 2018_

 _Skånes University Hospital, Malmö_

Maria Ericsson was doing her normal rounds at the hospital she worked at when she saw the flyer. She took a picture of it and sent it to her brother, asking if this wasn't the woman they had fished out of the ocean a few weeks ago.

He calls her back instantly.

" _Jo, det är det! Du borde ringa till det där numret och prata med den där Taylor!"_

" _Okej! Då gör jag det nu!"_

They hang up and Maria calls the number listed to call.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hi, is this Taylor Hamilton?"

" _It is, how can I help you?"_

"My name is Maria Ericsson and I believe that we fished your daughter out of the Mediterranean a little over six weeks ago." She can hear the gasp on the other side.

" _Are you sure?"_

"If you give me your e-mail address I can send you a picture of the woman?"

Taylor gives Maria her email and twenty seconds later, she has confirmation in her hands.

" _Do you know where she is?"_

"We took her to the emergency room at Pricess Grace Hospital in Monaco, I don't know if she's still there, she was unconcious the whole time while with us. She had a cut on the side of her head, but she was breathing just fine."

" _Thank you for letting me know."_

"You're welcome!"

She sends a text to her brother.

~Floating Memories~

 _January 14th_

 _Princess Grace Hospital Monaco_

The memories were so close she could touch them, some time during the last ten days, she'd started thinking in English and it made her believe she wasn't from France or Monaco. The names Bill, Liam and Steffy kept floating around in her head and she somehow connected that she was probably Steffy, but she had no last name and she couldn't place the other two names.

The nurse she had been talking to when she first got herself out of the daze she'd been in tried to help her as best she could, but nothing helped.

Once in a while she could sense someones hands on her body and someones lips on hers, but she felt like they didn't belong to the same person. One made her feel disgusted and one made her feel like she was home.

Over the last two nights she'd had a dream that felt like a memory. She walked onto a private yet with a man she had no face on, she knows she doesn't really want to be there, but feels forced to and every time this man puts his hands on her, she just wants to throw up. They walk off the yet and a car drives them to a marina, where they get onto a yacht and said yacht puddles off into the sunset.

Then everything moves fast forwards until she's standing on the safe side of the railing ready to climb over, she feels her head starting to hurt and then she wakes up, and when she does she's drenched in sweat and shaking all over.

She starts wondering if there's someone out there who knows who she is and if they're wondering where she is. She's remembering a pair of pale blue eyes looking at her both with love and disappointment and feeling devastated that she made them look at her like that.

~Floating memories~

 _January 19th 2018_

 _Monaco_

She had finally gotten a ticket on the train down to Monaco, and was waiting nervously for it to arrive at it's destination.

It takes almost 12 hours, she knows she should've taken a plane, but she'd rather not when she doesn't have to. When she arrives, she finds a cab and goes straight to the hospital.

She finds out that they do have a woman who resembles the picture of her daughter, but that this woman has amnesia and doesn't remember much of her previous life.

She follows the nurse to a doctors office and sits down waiting for the doctor who's been treating the woman.

She sits there waiting while getting more nervous with every minute passing. She hadn't called Liam in fear of it not being Steffy, but she would the moment she knew it was her.

The doorhandle starts turning and a man in his late fifties walk through the door.

"Hello Ms Hamilton!"

"Hello!"

"If I'm correct, you believe that you are the mother of the woman who is admitted to this hospital that has amnesia and doesn't remember anything almost at all?"

"Yes, she has a tattoo on her right hip, which she hasn't told me the significance of, she also has had a ring tattoed on her ringfinger removed after her marriage to her then husband ended." The doctor recognizes that this woman knows specific details they knew because of their treatments and he believes he can trust her.

"Okey, let's go see if the woman is your daughter."

They leave the office and walk back a few doors down the corridor. He opens the door and the woman sitting on the bed turns her head towards him and then she turns to the woman next to him, looks into her pale blue eyes and she starts crying.

Taylor is overwhelmed looking at her daughter sitting in the bed starting to cry.

" _Mom?_ "

"Yes honey." Taylor chokes on the last word, Steffy opens her arms and Taylor rushes into them. "What were you doing in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea?"

"I wish I could remember. But if my dreams are anything to go by, I was there with a man and I had decided to tell someone the truth about something. What that something is I have no idea."

"Well then, I guess we can put your name on your chart then Ms Hamilton." The doctor looks at Steffy with a smile on his lips.

"Well, actually..." Taylor turns her head towards the doctor. "...it's Mrs Spencer. Stephanie Spencer."

Steffy´s eyes starts rapidly moving from the left to the right. "Bill Spencer, that's who I was with. Is he my husband?"

Taylor´s mouth drops.

"Why would you be in the middle of the Mediterranean with him?"

"I have no idea."

Things are starting to fall into place for Taylor. Bill did have something to do with this and she had a pretty good feeling that it was linked to everything that went down at the end of October and the whole of November, but she couldn't be sure until Steffy told her everything.

"Okey, so, I'm guessing that Ms Hamilton would like to bring Mrs Spencer with her to Paris?" The doctorn looked over at the older of the two when he asks.

"Yes, I'd like that very much. Thank you." Taylor nods her head and Steffy does the same.

"Good, then I'd need to speak to you about some things."

Taylor gives her daughter one last hug while telling her that she will be back, then she follows the doctor back to his office.

Back in Steffy´s room, she's about to have a visitor.

"Hey!" The nurse peaks her head through the door. "I heard your mother came down here from Paris to bring you home with her!"

Steffy breaks out one of her sparkling smiles.

"She did, she's with the doctor now talking about something."

They continue talking until Taylor appears by the door again.

"Rachelle, meet my mother!"

The two women shake hands.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my daughter!"

"It was my pleasure! Remember to write me!" She directs her first answer to Taylor, then directs the rest to Steffy.

"Will do!"

Taylor smiles at the nurse and then turns to Steffy. "So, you've been discharged and the bill is payed. Are you ready to go?"

Steffy nods her head.

They check into a hotell and Steffy sleeps for most of the day. In the mean time, Taylor calls Liam.

It takes him two rings to answer.

" _Hello Taylor!"_

"Hi Liam! Are you alone right now?"

" _Yes, I'm sitting on the livingroom couch at home."_

"Good, I don't want your father to find out about this. You need to promise me that you won't tell him!"

" _Okey, I promise!"_

"I have found Steffy and I'm in the process of bringing her home to Paris with me and I intend to keep her there until it's safe for her to fly back to LA. I do not want you to come here, but I wanted you to know that she's safe. Do not under any circumstances tell your father about this, I do not want him to know! You'll figure it out when you see Steffy after her memory comes back."

" _What do you mean you don't want me to come? Of course I'm coming to Paris if Steffy is there!"_ She can hear that Liam is getting aggravated.

"Liam!" She hears him quiet down. "I do not want you to come because she doesn't remember you and until she remembers who you are, we both need you to stay away. I'll send you updates and let you know when you can come, but the last seven years are totally gone! She doesn't remember anything. Let's just take this as it comes."

" _But why call me at all?"_

"Because you're her husband and you deserved to know that she's safe!" She holds on to the biggest of the secrets she's found out today, if he were to find out, he'd get on the plane anyway.

" _Okey, thank you for letting me know. At least I don't have to worry she's dead anymore!"_

"Exactly!" Steffy comes into the room.

"Mom, who are you talking to on the phone?"

Taylor can hear that Liam heard Steffy through the phone and she hates that she has to lie to her daughter, but she's not really lying.

"Just a friend that wanted to know what's going on. We were just about to say good bye!"

"Can I speak to them?"

"Are you sure you're up for that?" She directs the question to both parties. Hearing Liam say yes while Steffy nods her head, she hands over the phone.

What follows is two hours of Steffy talking to Liam and Liam not mentioning that he's her husband.

They say good bye and Steffy turns to her mother. "He's nice! He reminds me of someone."

Steffy turns the phone off and hands it to her mother with a small smile on her lips.

"What are we having for dinner? I'm hungry!"

"Let's just order something from roomservice." Steffy nods her head at her mothers suggestion so she walks over to the table by the window and looks over the menu. She then calls in their order and then they wait for the food.

Steffy turns on the tv and watches some strange tv show about a family called Brooks and another family called Thorne that battle it out on the runway that reminds her of her own family, well, as she knows it at least.

~Floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **So, the translation for the French and Swedish sentences:**

 **French:**

" _Regardez, elle ouvre les yeux!"_ **means _Look, she's opening her eyes!_**

" _Que devrions-nous faire, Docteur?"_ **means _What are we going to do now, Doctor?_**

" _Mais elle est là depuis plus d'un mois!"_ **means** _ **But she's been here a month!**_

" _Oui, mais on ne peut pas la forcer. Elle n'est pas encore prête!"_ **means** _ **Yes, but we can't force her. She's not ready yet.**_

" _No, mais regarde, elle a ouvert les yeux. Comment ca va?"_ **means** _ **Well, look who's opening her eyes. How are you?**_

" _Excusez-moi? Qui suis je?"_ **means** _ **Excuse me? Who am I?**_

" _Que veux-tu dire?"_ **means** _ **What do you mean?**_

" _Sais-tu qui je suis?"_ **means** _ **Do you know who I am?**_

" _Non, malheureusement pas!"_ **means** _ **Unfortunately no!**_

" _Comment suis-je arrivé ici?"_ **means** _ **How did I get here?**_

" _Un groupe de jeunes cous a trouvé flottant au milieu de la Méditerranée. Ils cous ont amené ici et maintenant cous êtes ici depuis un mois."_ **means** _ **A group of young people found you floating around in the middle of the Mediterranean. They brought you here and now you've been here a**_

" _D'accord!"_ **means** _ **Okey.**_

 **Swedish:**

" _Jo, det är det! Du borde ringa till det där numret och prata med den där Taylor!"_ **means** _ **Yes, it is! You should call that number and talk to that Taylor-person!**_

" _Okej! Då gör jag det nu!"_ **means** _ **Okey, I'll do that now then!**_


	3. Chapter 2

**AN:**

 **I do not own a single thing! Except the computer I'm writing this on, that I do own!**

Floating memories

 **Chapter two**

 _March 8_ _th_ _2018_

 _Paris, France_

 _Taylors house_

They had moved since Steffy first came to Paris with her mother. She had been in the process of moving when she got the call from Maria and it was a good thing. Because little snippets of memories were coming back each day and these last two days, things had been coming back by the droves.

On Tuesday, Taylor had come home to gut wrenching cries as Steffy remembered losing her baby, she still couldn't remember who her husband was though. On Wednesday, Taylor came home to a missing Steffy, but when she found her up in the attic, she asked what was going on and Steffy blurted out " _Ivy is blackmailing me, so I'm hiding."_

Today however was a different story all together.

When Taylor comes home, she finds her daughter hiding in the closet just to the left of the front door silently crying rocking back and forth.

"Hey!" Steffy jolts back when she hears her mother speak. "What's wrong?"

" _I cheated on Liam. He'll never forgive me for this. He'll never forgive me for this._ "

Taylor just pulls her daughter out from the closet over to the couch.

"Okay, so you remember who Liam is?"

" _Who's Liam?_ "

"So, you don't remember who Liam is?" She feels her daughter shaking her head against her shoulder. "What do you remember then?"

"I remember feeling so torn up about something and I went to one of the guesthouses on granddads property. I spent a couple of hours there just crying and thinking about it. Then someone knocks on the door and I answer it. This man comes in, I obviously know who it is, otherwise I wouldn't have opened the door, he's telling me everything I need to hear, then he reaches down to kiss me and I kiss him back. The next thing I remember is waking up on the bed feeling joyous about being in my husband's arm. Then I notice that it's not my husband and I freak out. When I leave after my shower, I'm almost at the point of hysterics. I made a mistake and he's never going to forgive me for this."

Taylor starts piecing together the puzzle and realizes that's the reason Bill has been so jumpy and that this one-night stand if you could call it that is the reason Steffy was in Monaco with Bill. Taylor decides to just let her daughter cry it out.

Taylor was happy that Steffy was starting to remember, unfortunately, the stuff she was remembering wasn't happy times, it was moments where her emotions where so distraught that it was draining her and because of that, she was glad the only ones she'd told about having Steffy with her was Ridge, Liam and Thomas, all three had gotten specific instructions not to come see her.

Taylor felt like Steffy needed one constant support and her mother was the best one for it. Having the men in her life come and go wasn't a good idea, so here they were. Hiding away in Paris.

Both Liam and Ridge were getting updates though, she wasn't entirely sure how she was going to handle this particular memory, but that was a task to be pushed forward. She didn't know how Ridge would handle Bill having sex with his daughter while being married to the woman he's wanted to marry these last few months. She should probably keep it to herself for now, it was probably best for everyone involved.

"The whole incident made me see that he's all I want though. There's nothing else I want in this world than to be his wife and the mother of his children. Well, maybe for the company to be a success, but other than that, that's it."

"Well, sometimes you've just got to take the consequences of one's actions and let the pieces fall as they may. I know I did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how your father and I annulled our marriage after I came back last time?"

Steffy nods her head.

"We did that for two reasons, it just wasn't right anymore and Ridge found out about me sleeping with James when I thought Ridge was going to leave me for Brooke and moving to Paris. This happened long before you were born. I didn't know that Ridge hadn't gotten the letter I wrote him before going on my trip to Egypt where I confessed to being unfaithful. Anyway, things happened and we were able to get our marriage annulled." Taylor brings her daughter closer. "Let's just get your memory back and then we can deal with all this later."

"You know who it was don't you?" Steffys voice shakes as she's talking. "You know who I cheated on my husband with?"

"I think I do, but you need to remember for yourself to be certain and the fact that you realize that your actions are your actions is a big step forward. Forcing the memories can't be good for you so just let it happen as it happens."

Steffy just nods her head. "So, what do you want for dinner? Do you remember that we have an appointment tomorrow?"

"I'd like pizza actually and I do remember that I have an appointment tomorrow!" Steffy caresses the bump on her belly. "We need to make sure this one is doing okay."

"That we do, it can't be good for Little One to be exposed to all of these emotions."

This was another reason why Taylor didn't want Thomas, Ridge or Liam to come to Paris to see her. The pregnancy was already under too much stress. She had figured out though that Steffy had already been a few weeks pregnant when she cheated on Liam. This baby did not have the best start in life and because of what happened when Steffy and Liam got pregnant last time, making sure this pregnancy made it full term was more important than ever.

They had decided that finding out the sex was something Steffy and her husband should do together, so they called the baby Little one.

Taylor pulls her phone out and dials the number to their favorite pizza place to call in their order.

~Floating memories~

 _March 9_ _th_ _2018_

 _Los Angeles_

 _Spencer Publications_

Wyatt had been watching his brother and father's actions over the last five months and he noticed instantly when Liam calmed down in his frantic search for his missing wife and when his father skittishness increased because of Liam calming down.

Watching Liam stop searching for Steffy so abruptly, he had been spending a lot of money trying to find her one day, then the next day he came into work and got caught up on months of work he'd neglected because of the Spectra-saga and then Steffy having gone missing. After thinking about it, he figured out that Liam probably knew where Steffy was and that she was safe. He was questioning why Liam wouldn't tell them, but he probably had his reasons for it and he'd let them know when he or they were ready for it.

Wyatt wasn't going to pry into it and let it all fall where it did.

His own life was going very well. Thriving at work and after he and Katie had gone public, there hadn't been that much back lash from the family or the public as they thought there would be. Hope had been in touch and let Katie know that she supported them fully. Brooke had looked at her a little funny and then just nodded her head. His father didn't care much, but he knew that probably depended on what was going on in his head or maybe he just hadn't heard.

Anyway, right now life was good.

Across the hall, Liam is reading last night's Steffy report, there wasn't much to read, but he knew that Taylor knew he wanted to know. There's a knock on the door and he look up to see his brother poke his head through the door.

"Hey! I wanted to know if you'd like to go have lunch with me?"

"Sounds like a great plan. Will dad be joining?"

"I went to see him first, but he's grunting and groaning in front of the computer and seems to not pay attention on anything else so he's not joining us."

So, Liam deletes Taylors e-mail from all places it could be read and then they head out.

While on the way out, they can hear Bill and look at each other and laughs a little.

Bill on the other hand is so wrapped up in his own little world that he doesn't notice Brooke coming through the door.

"Well, you know what. I trusted you to sign these papers and then turn them in so that our divorce was final! You know Thorne and I are getting married soon and you just couldn't do what I asked you to!"

"Well, I didn't want the divorce remember! Why didn't you make sure you were divorced before agreeing to be Thornes wife again? Also, remind me why you two ended last time!"

"Well, putting my trust in a man that blows up buildings with his son in them may have been a mistake on my part."

"Oh, that again? You just remember that my son is the one who ran back into a building he knew was being demolished that day and maybe I shouldn't have put my trust in the fact that maybe my wife would be faithful to me and actually support me like she said she would."

"Just sign them!"

"But I already did, you however didn't so you see I couldn't turn them in."

"Why didn't you talk to me then?"

"As I said, I didn't want the divorce remember and apparently you didn't either. Not signing the divorce papers before handing them off to the spouse you're trying to divorce is a sure sign of not wanting to get divorced."

Brooke just huffs, signs the papers and hands them off to Bill.

"You really screwed everything up when you told me I was the love of your life!" He then goes back to the work he was doing. Thirty seconds later he looks up. "What? You're still here? Leave, you got your divorce, now leave!"

"What happened to you?"

"You don't want to know! Now **leave!** " He looks her straight into her eyes with a force she's not used to.

He turns his eyes back to the work and Brooke leaves quietly. She lingers in the doorway and sighs before walking away.

~Floating memories~

 _Los Angeles_

 _Forrester Creations._

Thomas and Caroline had returned to LA about a month after Steffy disappeared and were working nicely with Ridge. Thomas knew about the lie that Bill had told and he had punched Bill for it.

The reason he had forgiven both Steffy and Caroline for it is because they both knew what he really wanted.

Yes, he was pissed that they had manipulated him, but spending time with Caroline and Douglas had made him see that he wanted to be in his sons life. He also knew that Caroline wanted to be with his father, so he gave her his blessing and then they returned to Los Angeles. He had gone and told Sally about the lie, but he'd also told her that he couldn't be with her ever again.

Right now, Caroline and Ridge were planning to get married again and Thomas was being taught the ropes of the business, although he found it way to stressful and was planning on telling his father that he wanted to continue to focus on designing instead.

He had run into an older flame just before he and Caroline called it quits and they were currently dating, it wasn't serious, but they were exclusive.

He was still mad at Liam though, because, once again, Liams morals had only been morals when they suited him yet again. Yes, Thomas had been the reason for them once, but really, lying about Carolines health took the cake.

Right now, he was planning on going to lunch, but a phone call changes that. He sees that it's his mother calling.

"Hi mom! How are you doing?" He stresses the you so that she knows he's including Steffy in the question.

" _I'm doing okay, major breakthrough yesterday, don't tell anyone though, people will not be happy about it. Anyway, I just wanted to call and see how you were doing._ " He knows that she included Steffy in that I'm as well.

"Oh, bad memory?" He can hear his mother's confirmation. "I'm okay, lifes working out great. I needed those months in New York."

" _That's good, so you're not mad at Steffy anymore?_ "

"No, I never really was. I was not being a good brother and she knew exactly what I needed. When I left New York, and came back to find that Steffy had been named CEO, I was carrying anger towards the world and I took it out on her. She knew why I was angry and made my and Carolines closure happen."

" _See, sister always knows best. Except right now because right now she doesn't really know much at all._ " She chokes as the words come out.

"Yeah, you just continue to help when she remembers and it'll be okay."

" _I'm trying to, but it's taking a toll on both of us. Anyway, we need to leave now. There's somewhere we need to be!_ "

"Okey! Hope it goes well!"

" _I hope so too!_ "

They say good bye and hang up. Him with a smile on his lips and her with worry on her face.

~Floating memories~

 _Paris, France_

She had asked the OB that they'd be able to see her during the evenings because of Steffys memories almost always coming during the middle of the day and she didn't want to risk Steffy regaining a memory during the visit.

When she had gotten home today, Steffy had been sitting on the couch looking quite content.

"Hey!" Steffy looked over at her and a small smile grazed her lips. "No memories today?"

"Not yet, I think baby might want me settled today so Little one is not sending any memories. Isn't that right Little one?" The baby in Steffys belly stretches as an answer to its mothers question and Steffy just nods her head.

"You ready to go?"

"Yes, we are!"

They get all the way to the OB, get to see the baby and they take a little blood and they need a urine sample. Everything is working out great, apparently the emotional stress that Steffy is feeling every time that a memory comes back isn't affecting Little one as much as both Steffy and Taylor thought. This is a strong baby and it should survive it all.

Steffy is sitting in the passenger seat of her mother's car rubbing her belly.

"Do you think Thomas would be mad if he found about the lie Bill told about Caroline?" Steffy isn't really paying attention to what she's saying and is startled when she realizes what she said.

"Oh honey, he already knows. He and Caroline moved back to LA a while back and Caroline is in the process of marrying your father again." Taylor grabs a hold of her daughter's hand and squeezes it. "He's not mad at you, you did what was best for him and he knows that!"

"Are you sure? Because what happened after that is what caused all this."

"How do you mean?"

"Had I not called Caroline, Bill wouldn't have come up with the lie, causing Thomas to leave for New York and the building Spectra was located in wouldn't have been burned down and because of the building burning down, Liam wouldn't have entered one of his Rescue Ranger modes, they wouldn't have been in the building when it was demolished and he and Sally wouldn't have kissed. Which means that he wouldn't have had anything to confess and I wouldn't have run out on him."

"Okay, so you're saying that you are responsible for Carolines choices after you hang up the phone?" Taylor looks at her daughter nod. "Did you make Caroline choose to come to LA to talk to Thomas about their status of relationship and as parents to Douglas?"

"Well, when you say it like that. No, I didn't make her come to LA, but I made the call."

"Okey, so, did you make Bill tell that lie about Carolines health?"

"No, but I kept it secret."

"By the time you found out about it, how many knew about it?"

"Well, there's Bill, Caroline and Liam is the one who told me!"

"So you were the fourth to find out?" Steffy nods. "Meaning there were three people before you that could've told the truth. Caroline could have chosen to tell Thomas before he cut all ties with Sally and Spectra, she didn't. But, when Caroline made that miraculous recovery, Thomas chose to stay in New York with Caroline and Douglas and they got the chance to really work out what they were to each other. As it stands right now Thomas is back in LA, with Sally Spectra right around the corner but he's involved with Caitlin Ramirez again and Caroline is back with your father."

"Well, it looks like everyone ended up where they were supposed to be. Except me."

"Well, we're working on that though, aren't we?"

"We are." Steffy squeezes her mother's hand once again before Taylor have to use it to turn the car into their driveway.

~Floating memories~

 _March 10_ _th_ _2018_

 _Spectra Fashion_

 _or rather_

 _Salleigh Spectra_

After the building was demolished, Sally decided to start the company up again, but on a smaller scale then she planned on from the beginning.

Bill Spencer had helped her find a house where she could start manufacturing her new line and he also put her in contact with a few department stores that would take a look at the line when it was done.

At this particular moment, Sally was cutting out pattern pieces for a dress. She had decided to focus on clothes that were more 'ready to wear', such as summer dresses, jeans, jackets, shirts, tunics and that kind of clothes. Haute Couture dresses and what Forrester Creations designs was too far out of her league and when she recognized this, things started to flow more easily.

Saul comes through the door with Darlita following closely behind.

"Hey! Are you getting done for the day soon?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to cut these pieces and then sew them together."

"We'll help!" Darlita sends a big smile at her former employer.

Because she had decreased the size of the company, Sally had only herself and Saul still on the payroll, but she knew she needed to have it like this for a while. Starting up on that big of a scale was a task to big for someone just starting in the business.

Letting it grow bigger over time was a better plan and Sally was determined to continue on the path she was on now.

"This is going to be a pretty dress!" Darlitas eyes sparkle.

"I hope so, we'll see!"

Four hours later, Darlita is spinning in circles in Salleigh Spectras new showstopper dress and the three of them are laughing.

"Yeah, this line is going to be amazing!"

Saul and Sally high five each other and then turn back to look at Darlita spinning.

~Floating memories~

 _March 20_ _th_ _2018_

 _Paris, France_

The last few weeks had been utter torture. Memories were coming back, the good thing about that was that there were happy memories returning, the bad thing was that they were followed by more bad ones.

Her and her husband's second wedding was followed by finding out that Phoebe died. Their third wedding was followed by remembering the fear she felt after the building was demolished and she found out her husband was in the building when it went down.

Memories from their first wedding was followed by her husband walking out on her after Katie told on Bills lie about the blood clot in her brain and the following argument with Bill.

She had started to write a letter to her husband that she wanted her mother to send to him where she told him about what had happened after she walked out on him that night and that she understood if he wanted to leave their marriage and that she would let him leave without any objections. When she was done, she realized that she had just written a letter that was eighteen pages long and contained so many things she didn't even remember yet. Reading it through, so many things fell into place.

All of a sudden, her whole life flashed before her eyes.

When her mother came home after work that night, Steffy was sitting on the couch with an envelope on the coffee table with Liams name on it.

"I cheated on my husband with his father and Liam will never forgive that. I have written him a letter that I need you to send him. But before that I want you to find me a lawyer that can draw up divorce papers for me to sign and send to him as well and I'll let him decide if he wants to divorce me or not. My confession is in that envelope and I know that I could never tell him face to face without breaking down and I just want him to read what I have to say and then he can decide for himself. I've also told him about the baby and that we should be able to co-parent once I get back to the states. I don't want to influence his decision so I'm staying in Paris until he's decided. He needs to decide our future, if he doesn't want a future with me, that's okay. I'll survive."

Small tears are falling from Steffy's eyes.

"I'm taking responsibility for my actions and I'll accept the consequences for them. I just hope Liam won't be angry at me forever!"

Taylor walks over and sits down next to her daughter, then she brings her into her arms.

"Okay, I'll send it to him." Taylor is trying to figure out the best way to smuggle the letter to Liam and comes to the conclusion to use her son as messenger and she'd need to talk to him pretty soon.

Steffy nods her head. "I'm going to go lay down for a bit. This whole experience was draining and I'm so tired."

"You just go and sleep honey, I'll check on you in a little bit."

Taylor watches Steffy walk out of the room and then she goes and gives her lawyer a call. When she's done with that, she calls her son.

" _Hi mom!"_ Thomas says with glee in his voice.

"Hi Thomas!" Taylor sighs.

" _What's wrong?"_

"Steffy remembers everything and she's decided that she will not see Liam until he's made a decision on their future and in order for him to do so, she's written him a letter explaining everything. She wants me to send them to him, but I can't send it to him directly so I'm going to need you to give the envelope to him. Could you do that?"

" _Of course. But if Steffy don't want to meet him, it's really bad isn't it?"_

"It's worse than you'd ever know. Please don't hold all this against her and when Liam finds out, make sure he doesn't do anything he'll regret later."

" _I promise. Should I be there when he reads the letter?"_

"I think that it might be a good idea if both you and Wyatt are there, you should probably ask Carter to be there as well since she's sending divorce papers with the letter." She hears him gasp for air.

" _It can't be that bad can it?"_

"Trust me, it's worst case scenario. Someone will probably be threatened within an inch of their life."

" _Are you serious?"_

"Unfortunately, yes. You and Wyatt need to be there for Liam as he reads the letter and you need to calm him down when he gets to the point where she explains where she went on her buying trip and why she went on it."

" _Oh my God! It's horrible isn't it?"_

"It's about the worst it could be!" Taylor is overwhelmed with emotions. "Liam will not take those news well and he might try to leave the three of you and you cannot let him go anywhere until he's calmed down. If he wants to come to Paris, you and Wyatt need to come with him because I don't know what will happen if he comes here alone. You need to be there for him, I'll take care of your sister, you take care of her husband together with his brother!"

" _I'll do my very best!"_

"Thank you, Thomas!" Taylor then remembers something important. "Thomas, under no circumstances can you give this package to him anywhere other than at the Cliff house or your apartment, it cannot be given to him at Spencer Publications."

" _Okay! I'm going to talk to Carter and Wyatt as soon as I get the package."_

"Good. Do not tell your father about this either! He cannot know about this."

" _Okay, is there anyone else I can't say anything to?"_

"You can only tell Wyatt and Carter that they need to be there with you when you deliver the package to Liam, that he'll find some things out that he's not going to be happy about and that you need to be there for him when he finds out, as well as not letting him leave until he's calmed down. If he leaves when he's calmed down, you need to follow him! Liam needs to have one of you three with him at all times!"

" _Okay!"_

"I'm going to send it to you the moment I get the divorce papers and Steffy has signed them, should be by next week."

" _I'll let you know how it goes!"_

"Thank you, Thomas!"

" _Give my love to Steffy!"_

"I will. Oh, if Liam puts up a fight, knock him out if you need to. He needs to think things over before he acts on anything."

" _I'll tell Wyatt, I think it will be easier if Wyatt's the one who knocks him out."_

"Tell Liam that I'm so sorry for what he's about to go through and that Steffy does want to stay in their marriage, but she'll let it go if he doesn't want it anymore!"

" _I'll let him know! Take care of my sister!"_

"For the rest of my life if I have to!"

" _I love you mom! Take care!"_

"I love you too Thomas and you take care as well."

They say good bye for now and go back to their normal lives.

~Floating memories~

 _March 30_ _th_ _2018_

 _Thomas apartment._

The package had been sitting on his kitchen table for two days now, he didn't want to know what was inside it other then what he already knew, but he knew it was for the best of both the Mr and the Mrs. Spencer if Liam read what his sister had to say. So, he sends out a text message to both his former brother in law as well as his current, he also sends one to Carter asking them to meet him at his apartment in an hour to Carter and Wyatt and an hour and a half to Liam.

Within forty-five minutes, the doorbell rings and both Wyatt and Carter are on the other side of the door.

"Hey! What's up?" Both newcomers ask.

"I need you to take a seat at the kitchen table." Both men follow Thomas into the kitchen and then they sit down.

"What's up with the package?" Wyatt lets his eyes flicker between the package and Thomas.

"It's why I've asked you here." Thomas takes a deep breath and then gives a big sigh. "In it is a letter from my sister and divorce papers."

Wyatt inhales deeply. "I'm sorry what? Why would Steffy willingly give Liam a divorce?"

"Steffy does not want to end their marriage, but what's in the letter might make him want to and that's why you're here Wyatt, I need you to help me keep Liam calm and make him see that he needs to decide what to do and he cannot act on anything else until he's decided if he wants to divorce her or not. If he does not want to divorce her, we need to follow him to Paris and keep him calm while we're there." Thomas pinches the bridge of his nose. "My mom gave me permission to knock him out if he puts up a fight and I need you to do that, Wyatt, because if I punch him out, he might think I'm still mad about the lie Bill told about Caroline and you're his brother. A punch might come off as more acceptable if his brother is the one throwing the punch."

"Okay?" Wyatt is confused.

"I don't know what's in the letter, but mom said it's not good and someone might end up being threatened within an inch of their lives. I do not believe it's either of us and therefor mom thought it best if we were the ones trying to restrain him."

Wyatt scratches the back of his head in confusion as the doorbell rings.

"When Liam has come inside the apartment, he's not allowed to leave until he's calmed down, could you take a chair and sit by the door Carter?" Thomas looks over at Carter, who nods. "Good."

Thomas then walks over to the door and opens it letting Liam in side.

When he sees that both Wyatt and Carter are there also, he becomes concerned.

"What's going on?"

Thomas just hands him the package and tells him to sit down and open it. Liam opens it and the first thing he sees are the divorce papers.

"What? Why? Why is Steffy sending me divorce papers?"

"Read the letter and you'll understand..." Thomas looks around to the other men in the apartment. "..I think. Maybe."

And so that's what Liam does.

 _My darling Liam._

 _I wish I didn't have to write you this letter, but I don't think that I'd be able to handle the stress and emotions that would come of telling you this in person, so I'm just going to tell you the story from the beginning, meaning just after you told me about the kisses you and Sally shared._

She then continues describing everything she felt about the fact that he chose to kiss someone else while possibly on the brink of death and that she had essentially given up on them. She tells him what she felt every time she denied a call from him and that she now wishes she had answered his call, because what happened after she denied his last call was something that would break his heart into a million pieces.

She wants him to understand the feelings that were running through her body at the time. When he gets to the part where she writes she answered a call from his father, his heart starts breaking. She tells him what happened after that and then tells him that she's willingly accepting her responsibility for what happened and that she is partly to blame for it.

When he gets to the part where she writes about his father blackmailing her into coming with him to Monte Carlo when she was supposed to be on her buying trip, he looks up at Thomas and Wyatt with tears flowing freely down his face and rage in his eyes.

She tells him about how she had decided that she was going to tell him all about it when she got back and that she'd take the consequences that followed without questioning why.

Then she lets him know about her hospital stay, how she ended up there and that she's having his child.

" _I'm going to be a father?_ " He whispers in confusion.

Thomas and Wyatt turn their heads to look at each other.

"Why would Steffy grant you a divorce if she's carrying your child?"

"Because she did something she knew I probably wouldn't be able to forgive." Liam looks over at his brother when he answers the question. He then moves to read the letter again.

It takes him almost two hours to read it, he read it once and then he read it again to figure out if he'd read it correctly. He then hands the letter over to his brother to read.

When Wyatt has finished reading it he looks over at his brother. "I know our father is a mean and evil man, but I never thought he'd do something like that. So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I want to punch my father's lights out and then I want to do it again the moment he wakes up. I'm going to hand in my resignation tomorrow, because I can't work with him ever again!"

"We're on the same page then I hear. What about Steffy and your marriage?"

~Floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **Yeah, so, what do you think Liam should do? Should he divorce Steffy and move on or should he work on the marriage because he still loves Steffy?**

 **I'm not entirely sure actually. I guess we'll see what my muse thinks in the next chapter.**

 **Oh, who's going to get the pleasure of knocking Bills teeth out? Liam, Thomas, Wyatt, Ridge, Thorne or Carter? Making it Eric might be a little heavy don't you think? Maybe I should make it Charlie? Or Rick maybe? A little redemption thrown his way for shooting into her father's office or using her to get back at Ridge maybe?**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:**

 **As always, I don't own a thing, except for the computer this is written on.**

 **Since PF has left the show, I decided to cast AG as Thomas again, DTB was a great Thomas, but AG looks like JMW´s brother.**

Floating memories

 **Chapter three**

 _Two hours later_

 _Spencer Publications_

He was furious. He had never been so angry in his entire life.

He finds his father's office and sees him sitting there in his chair working on the computer.

"So, are you happy now?" He grinds his teeth as he's talking, Bill is startled and almost jumps out of the chair.

"What do I have to be happy about now?"

"Well, you single handedly destroyed your sons marriage!"

Bill becomes his smug self. "What do you mean?"

"Did you really think Steffy was never going to tell Liam about what the two of you did? Or more specifically what you did? How could you take advantage of her like that?" He walks over to his father's desk and leans on it to make his point clearer.

"She needed me, I gave her what she needed."

"Really? The woman is heartbroken that her husband broke their vows and you decide to sleep with her? She's crying her eyes out asking how he could do this to her and you decide that Steffy so clearly needs to get laid that you just pounce on her? Are you seriously telling me that a woman who's so clearly in love with your son at any moment told you that you needed to take her?"

"As I said, she needed me and I gave her what she needed."

"Oh my God, even I was a better friend than you are! I can't believe you did that. You know what, I'm leaving Spencer Publications and if I understood Liam correctly, he's leaving too! I can't believe you thought it would be okay to sleep with your daughter in law!"

The gasp heard behind them cause both of them to turn around in chock.

"You slept with Steffy?" Brooke stares at Bill with disgust in her eyes.

Bill stands up and tries to offer an explanation. Brooke isn't having it though, so she walks over and then she punches him with all her strength.

Bill is taken aback by the action. "What on earth is your problem?"

"You slept with my fiancés niece, what do you think is my problem?" She punches him again. "After everything you did to get them together, after everything you did to get Hope out of the way. How dare you destroy that relationship only to destroy the relationship **you** wanted for your son?"

"Well, it's my turn now. Liam had her, he threw her away. Wyatt had her, she threw that away and I had her before either of them and I threw her away for the likes of you and your sister!" Wyatt blushes and looks away. "The Logan-women, so easy to fall in love with, so easy to get into bed."

The anger returns in Wyatt and he throws his own punch with Bill landing on the floor unconscious.

He leaves a note behind with the words ' _You just wait till Ridge finds out about this._ ' on it. When Bill reads this, he just doesn't care enough to even bother being scared.

~Floating memories~

 _Thomas apartment_

 _5pm_

Liam had fallen asleep on the couch after he finished reading the letter and it gave Thomas and Carter a chance to look over the divorce papers and read the letter.

Thomas looks up at Carter after reading the letter once more. "I don't know how he'd be able to forgive my sister after this."

"Well, he could look back at all the crap he's put her through and wonder if this isn't just a reaction from her being hurt by him over and over and over again. Maybe she really had had enough of feeling like she was his second choice all the time and Bill gave her the sense that she was the only one he wanted. When he told Steffy about Sally kissing him, did he tell her because she deserved to know, or did he tell her to ease his own conscious? Did he tell her for her or himself? I know you said that we are supposed to help him through this, but maybe helping him through this is to make him aware of the fact that his behavior towards Steffy might have had a big part in it? I mean, do you think that Steffy would've slept with Bill had Steffy not gotten her heart broken earlier that day?"

"No, I don't. Steffy has been firm in her feelings for Liam for over six years now, why would she even let the chance of destroying it happen if she wasn't already convinced that it was already destroyed? There's only so much someone can take in a relationship and Steffy obviously reached that point. It's amazing how much she endured because of her feelings for Liam. I don't think I'd ever be able to take that much crap. Yeah, I know she created part of it, but she wasn't the one in a committed relationship flirting with someone other than her partner."

Carter nods his head. "Yeah, watching it from the outside it's a wonder they haven't imploded already."

The two talk back and forth for an hour or so more, then there's a knock on the door and when Thomas opens it, Wyatt has returned.

"Hey! What happened to your hand?" Carter raises his eyebrows.

"Well, it had a meeting with my father's nose. It won!" The three men chuckle.

On the couch, Liam is waking up slowly hearing his brother, brother in law and Carter chuckling. He's pretty sure he's not the reason they're laughing. He decides to listen in on their conversation.

~Floating memories~

 _Forrester Creations_

 _Ridge´s office_

The knock on the door surprised him, he knew there wasn't any meetings right now, but he called out for whoever it was to come in.

Brooke walks in looking distraught.

Ridge looks up to see who it was that wanted to see him and he reacts instantly. "What's wrong?"

"You need to go see your daughter. She needs you right now."

"Why? Taylor said that she was taking care of Steffy and that Thomas, Liam and I should wait until Steffy was ready for us."

"It's not my story to tell, but you need to go to your daughter!" Brooke is deliberately vague trying to protect both men from doing something that they could end up in jail for and having Ridge go see his daughter was the best option. "You might want to take Caroline and Douglas with you. Trust me, when this blows up, you should not be in LA."

"Okay? I'll call Taylor and see what she has to say about it."

"No, no, you need to go right now!"

"Okay?"

"Promise me that you'll call Caroline and tell her that she needs to pack a bag for her and Douglas and that you need to leave for Paris!" Brooke has her hands on his cheeks looking him straight in the eyes to make her point clear.

Ridge just nods his head.

"Call her now!"

So, he goes and calls Caroline asking her to book them tickets for a flight to Paris as soon as possible and to pack bags for them. Caroline is a little hesitant, but she can hear the urgency in his voice so she does it.

"There we go."

"Good! Don't come back until after it's all calmed down." Then she walks out of his office leaving him confused.

So, he does the only thing he can think of. He calls his ex-wife.

" _Hello!"_ Taylor answers.

"Hello!" Ridge greets her. "So, Brooke was just here telling me to go visit my daughter. Would you say that's a good idea?"

" _I would actually, I'd say it's a great idea actually. I should have called you about that as a matter of fact._ "

"Why?"

" _You'll figure it out when you get here, or at least find out parts of the why."_

"Should we bring something with us?"

" _Like what?"_

"Uhm, Liam maybe?"

" _No, Thomas is on that, you don't have to worry about Liam. Thomas will bring Liam when it's time for that."_

Taylor had figured out pretty much instantly that Brooke had found out about Bill sleeping with Steffy when Ridge said she thought it might be a good idea for Ridge to come visit with Steffy, she felt like Brooke hadn't reacted in a way she thought Brooke would have though.

"Okay, Caroline is booking tickets now so we'll be there soon!"

" _Is Caroline and Douglas coming as well?"_

"Yeah, Brooke thought it would be a good idea."

" _I agree with that. It gives me a chance to see my grandson!"_ There's an edge to her voice that he isn't used to.

His phone lets him know he's got a text.

"Caroline just sent me the details, we should be there by early tomorrow afternoon!"

" _Good, we'll see you then!"_

"We'll see you then!"

He then sends a text to Thomas letting him know that they'll be leaving for Paris for a little while and that they'll take Douglas with them.

He gets a text back a little while later letting Ridge know that he might be going to Paris soon himself, there were just some things that needed to be put in place.

~Floating memories~

Back at Thomas place, Thomas puts his phone down.

"Dad and Caroline are taking Douglas with them to visit Steffy in Paris."

"Yeah, Bill might be in too much trouble if Ridge found out about him sleeping with Steffy otherwise." Carter suggests

"I wonder what brought that on."

"I might have the answer to that." Wyatt points out. "Brooke found out about it as I was blasting dad. I think she might have told Ridge to go to Paris."

Both Thomas and Carter nod their heads. "It was a good idea."

Thomas looks over at the couch and sees that Liam is starting to stir.

"So, anyone hungry?"

Wyatt and Carter nod their heads.

"Pizza anyone?"

"Sounds good to me!" Liam says and follows it up with a groan.

"How are you doing?" Thomas looks at his brother in law.

"I'm not really sure. On one hand, I'm happy to find out that Steffy has her memory back, on the other hand I'm pissed that she slept with my father, on the third one, I'm disappointed at myself that I didn't see the signs of her feelings after the renewal or even before, I just thought she was talking about Sally and me. I didn't even notice that she said that she made a mistake after she left. On the fourth hand, I'm so drained, there was so much worry about her when she was gone and then relief when I found out that she was safe and on the fifth hand, I'm so happy that I'm going to become a father, we had planned for a baby for a few months before the Spectra-drama began."

"Well, they're all acceptable feelings to have. You just need to sort out which are the important ones." Thomas starts searching for a restaurant to order their pizzas from. "I vote for the happy parts and the drained one. Figure out exactly why you're angry with her for sleeping with your father after walking out on you and take her feelings into consideration. Because both you and I know that Steffy never would've slept with Bill had she not thought your marriage was over. There's only one other reason she would've and that would be she was drugged, but your father couldn't have been that stupid right?"

"No, Steffy never would've cheated on me, not like I've done to her."

"Yeah, about that, what was that roll on your bed with Hope about? Why did you let her into the bedroom at all?"

Liam looks taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Back when Steffy went to Paris to visit dad after Hope and yours cancelled Do over-wedding after Puglia, she went home to tell you about the baby and found you and Hope rolling around on your bed."

"She never told me about seeing that?"

"Yeah, well, Steffy didn't feel the need to tell you everything she knows you did."

This statement makes Liam think back on everything that happened during Steffy and his relationship. He looks back on every kiss shared with a woman that was not Steffy during their relationship, the jealousy he felt when she told him that Wyatt had kissed her even though he was in a relationship with Ivy at the time, what she said to him after he told her he'd married Ivy to keep her from getting deported. The fact that she stepped back over and over so that he could have happiness with someone else.

"She should've walked out on me years ago."

"Yeah, I agree with you on that, but love is a mysterious thing and her love for you has never changed."

"But she married my brother!"

"So? You went to break up with Ivy to be with Steffy and came back married to Ivy. You kiss her on the bed in Puglia, then goes and marries Hope."

Liam makes to defend himself.

"Yeah, I know Steffy told you to, but you had just said that you'd leave with her right now if that's what she wanted. She did want that, but she also knew the hurt it would cause Hope, so she sent you away. What you should have done was to postpone the wedding because you obviously had mixed emotions about it!"

Liam looks down on his hands. "Yeah, you're right. I sent so many mixed signals at her that it's a surprise to me that she loved me when she came back from Paris."

"Yeah, that was another thing you completely messed up. Why on earth would you think she'd sell her shares to you after getting them back from your father? Especially because you wanted to save Ivy from Rick?"

"Well, at the time all I could see was that Ivy was being mistreated by her cousin."

"So, you decide to mistreat Steffy instead?"

"Looking back on it, it would seem like that yes."

"You know, listening to you guys talk, I just don't understand where all this love Steffy has for Liam comes from." Carter looks from one Spencer, to the other and then to Thomas.

"Steffy feels so grateful to Liam for saving her life, then she fell in love with him and when Steffy loves someone, they'd have to do something totally unforgivable for her to let them go, apparently Liam hasn't done something like that yet. Steffy loves hard, solid and forever. Unless you disappoint her in a way she just can't forgive. It's been like that ever since she first fell in love and for family it's even worse. If she sees you as family, you're in it for the long haul."

"Yeah, I can see that. I mean, after everything the men in her own family has put her through, you'd think she'd cut them out of her life already." Wyatt agrees with the assessment of Steffy. "I guess that's why it was so easy to leave me behind."

"No, that's not it. Her feelings for Liam overshadowed everything else. She was so hurt when Liam called and told her he was in Australia that she grieved their relationship. Then when Liam came back and said the things he said to her, she still has no clue why he did that, I don't either."

"Because I found her in bed with Wyatt and she lied to me about it."

Wyatt looks over at his brother and then scoffs.

"So, you blamed her for losing the baby saying she killed it because you found us sleeping on your bed?"

"Yes. She was laying there in her bra and panties and Wyatt was probably naked under the covers."

Wyatt starts laughing. "You stupid idiot! She went to bed alone, then I walk into the bedroom asking if she'd want to go swimming, I pull of my shirt while asking if she'd want to go take a swim and then I say something about maybe we're supposed to be together and she says how much she loves you and that she doesn't really believe you'd leave her for Ivy, but that the signs were there. She then asked me to lay down in the bed and hold her and had you lifted the covers, you would've seen that I was still wearing my pants."

Carter looks between the two Spencer-brothers. "You really screwed that up dude!"

Liam looks ashamed.

~Floating memories~

 _March 31_ _st_ _6:30 am_

 _Paris_

 _Taylor´s house_

When Taylor wakes up that morning she finds the house smelling like pasta sauce. She gets up and goes through her morning routine and then she walks into the kitchen to find some coffee and to find out where the smell is coming from and finds a pot with tomato sauce cooking. "Mmm, smells delicious."

She then goes to find her daughter. Steffy is laying on her daybed with a pair of headphones on her belly and another pair in her own. Taylor walks over and gently touches Steffy´s shoulder to not scare her.

"Hey honey! Have you had a good night?"

"Yeah, it's been calm and relaxing. Nothing much has happened."

"Your dad called early this morning and said that he and Caroline would be bringing Douglas to see you today, they should be a few hours away." Taylor sees Steffy´s eyes start to sparkle with excitement. "Apparently things are about to blow up over there and it was expressed to him that maybe he should go to Paris before he ends up somewhere he shouldn't be."

"Yeah, I can see him ending up in jail for assault on Bill if he were to find out in LA. Dad never liked Bill very much. This would just hurt him too much. I wish dad never would have to find out. But it's a consequence of my choices, so I'll have to live with it."

"Yeah, well, you know. You can just point out what he's done in the past if he decides to make a fuzz about it. He's made some questionable choices of his own. Some of them not so long ago."

"Yeah, well, my choices are my choices."

"So, what's the plan for the tomato sauce on the stove?"

"Well, I've been craving pasta, so I rummaged through the pantries and found stuff for the sauce. Just need to boil some pasta."

"Should I use the big shells?"

Steffy nods her head and then Taylor walks to the kitchen and starts getting the pasta ready.

~Floating memories~

 _March 31_ _st_ _0:22 am_

 _Airplane to Paris_

They had boarded the flight a little over two hours ago, having found a flight that soon after deciding to fly to Paris had almost been a sign that they were supposed to go to Paris. Caroline still wasn't sure why Ridge wanted to go, but it would be nice to leave for a while and she hadn't been to Europe in a while.

"So, are you going to tell me why we're going to Paris?" Caroline checks on her son and then looks at her husband to be.

"Brooke came to see me today, acting strange and it looked like she'd found something out about Steffy, so she told me that it would probably be best if we were to go see her while the fall out calms down. I just can't see what would cause that reaction though."

"Oh." Caroline turns back to watch her son sleeping.

The rest of the flight is spent caring for Douglas, sleeping and working on the computer.

When they get to Paris, it's 12:32 pm and Taylor is meeting them at the airport. She leads them to her car and then they're off.

A bit into the drive Ridge is beginning to get confused.

"Hey!" Taylor looks over at him. "I thought we would be going to your house?"

Taylor chuckles a little bit. "We are."

"But we're going the wrong way?"

"Nope."

Half an hour later they pull up on her driveway and they see Steffy sitting on the porch wrapped up in a blanket as it is still a little cold outside.

Steffy hears the car coming and gets up from her spot but doesn't let the blanket fall from her frame.

Taylor parks the car and gets out to help with all the bags. Ridge gets out of the car and goes straight to his daughter.

"Hi Steffy!" He gives her a smile.

"Hi daddy!" She says and it reminds him of his daughter's younger self.

He walks up the steps to give him a hug, but she shyly backs away from it. Taylor sees what her daughter does and isn't surprised by it. Caroline is however.

She looks over at her fiancé's ex-wife. "What's going on?"

"You'll know in time. Before you leave to go back to LA, it'll all make sense." Taylor being mysterious was new to Caroline as well.

Ridge is also confused, which Taylor can see.

"Welcome to Paris!" She then gathers up the blanket and looks towards her mother. "I'm going to go lay down, come get me when dinner is ready."

Steffy opens the door and goes inside, Ridge turns to Taylor with confusion on his face.

"She's happy to see you, she really is, but what you're about to find out is weighing heavy on her and it's taking a toll. So, you need to just let her show and tell you herself. Don't force her. It's her story to tell and she'll let you know when she's ready to do so. You'll probably find some things out during dinner. Steffy and I had lunch before I came and got you at the airport. Did you eat on the plane or do you want something to eat now?"

"Something to eat might be good. The food on the plane wasn't that big of a hit." Caroline accepts the offer to eat.

"Good! We've set you up in the guestroom behind the kitchen. I believe there is some pasta left from lunch, I'll just warm that up for you!"

"Sounds good!"

Ridge comes down the stairs and helps with the bags. They walk into the house and finds the blanket that Steffy had wrapped around herself laying over the couch. They can also hear music playing softly from a room upstairs.

"Why is she playing music? Didn't she say she was going to go sleep until dinner?" Ridge looks at Taylor after putting the bags down on the floor in the guestroom.

"She's been playing music to go to sleep ever since I found her in Monaco, it relaxes her and fills her dreams with happy memories. She tried sleeping without the music a few weeks ago, but she couldn't stay asleep, so she put some music on and slept for eight hours straight. She fell asleep just when I left for work and was asleep when I got home five hours later. It's something she needs right now, especially with everything that's about to happen in LA."

"Okay, but classical music?"

"Yeah, one of the nurses at the hospital played classical music for her while Steffy was in her coma and it seemed to help with the healing. But don't worry, she only listens to classical music when she's about to sleep otherwise it's the music she normally listens to." Taylor looks around. "Anyway, I took the liberty of getting some information on diaper size and food Douglas eats from Thomas and got him some things. I'll leave you to get settled and I'll come get you when the food is heated."

Taylor leaves the room and the two of them opens up the pack n' play for Douglas. The soon to be two-year-old had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the house and was probably not waking up for at least another hour. They put him down and Caroline goes to lay down for a bit herself, the time difference taking its toll. Ridge lays down next to her and they fall asleep listening to Douglas breathing.

~Floating memories~

 _March 31_ _st_

 _Thomas apartment_

 _LA_

All four of the men had stayed up all night talking things over and Carter had helped the two Spencer-brothers compose their resignation letters.

Thomas had helped him try to find a new place to live and after careful consideration, Thomas had offered to let Liam stay at his apartment until he could find somewhere else to live since he had an extra room.

They had also rented a truck, a storage unit and found moving boxes. They had fallen asleep just after three thirty and then woke up about four hours later. Sleeping on Thomas couch and in the armchairs weren't a good idea.

Carter left to go deliver the resignation letters, Wyatt went and got the truck and the moving boxes while Liam and Thomas went to start packing up everything that was Liam and Steffy´s personal belongings from the cliff house.

They were leaving everything that the house came with, like the furniture and cutlery, but clothes, photos, things he had bought for the house, products and stuff were going to the storage unit.

They started by clearing out the closet, taking all the clothes off their hangers and folding them up, he went and got zip lock bags to place everything in incase they'd be in the storage unit for a long time. Especially Steffy´s clothes as they didn't know when she'd return to LA.

When Wyatt came with the truck and moving boxes, they had started on Steffy´s dresser. Liam had been given the task of handling Steffy´s underwear because Thomas didn't want to know what Steffy wore under her clothes.

Wyatt and Thomas started putting the zip lock bags into boxes and when that was done, Wyatt took a box and emptied out the drawers in the bathroom and Steffy´s vanity in the bedroom.

They pack up bedsheets and blankets, comforters and everything that you could imagine.

They work on packing the house up for two hours, then the doorbell rings.

Liam goes and opens the door. On the other side is his father.

Needless to say, Bill´s bruised nose gets a meeting with Liam´s fist.

"Yeah, I probably deserved that. But you'd better think about what you've done!" Bill holds his nose with one hand and points at his son with the other. "You're not innocent in this you know!"

"Oh, trust me, I know I'm not, but that did not give you the right to have sex with my wife while she's a mess emotionally."

Hearing Liam screaming makes Thomas and Wyatt come out into the living room. Thomas eyes starts throwing darts over at Bill.

"What are you doing here?"

"I own the house!" Bill spits back.

"Well, you're welcome to it because I'm leaving!"

Bill is taken aback by that.

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

"Do you seriously think I'd want to stay here in your house after what you did?" Liam glares at his father. "I'm leaving Spencer Publications and I'm leaving you behind!"

"I am too!" Wyatt looks at Bill almost the same way that Liam is.

"Seems to me you managed to destroy your relationship with both your sons over this Bill Spencer. Now leave so we can get done packing this place up!" Thomas demands before walking up to Bill, putting his hands out to start pushing him out of the house. "I'll come by with the keys in a bit. I hope you're happy with your choices!"

Then he pushes the door shut right in Bill´s face.

"Now, let's get this done!" Thomas start walking back to where he came from when they heard Liam yelling. "Remember to put things that you need to have with you in my car. The rest can go to the storage unit."

Liam walks over to the couch and sits down sighing. "I know what I'm going to do."

Both Wyatt and Thomas stop in their tracks.

"Really?"

"Okay? So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to ask Steffy that we take it back to the beginning. We put a blank slate over everything and start dating again. Get to know each other for real this time. We pretend that we're not married and let our relationship evolve from that. Maybe we decide to get a divorce after that or we renew our vows for real. I just don't know. But in the meantime, we're not going to be living together."

"Sounds like a good idea." Thomas nods his head. "So, you're putting the divorce on hold for now?"

"Yes. I played a big part in what happened between my father and Steffy, I can't deny my own responsibility and I love Steffy so much that I can't throw my marriage away for something I helped happen. It's like you said. If I hadn't broken Steffy´s heart, she wouldn't have slept with my father."

"Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want to do? You want to put all of it behind you and move forward? Because you can't throw this in her face every time you argue ever like you've done with her losing the baby. All of that have to have been put away, you can't use any of this against her and if you do, I will make you hurt!" Liam looks over at his brother with surprise on his face.

"I'm absolutely sure and if I do, I'll gladly let you make me hurt. There is so much that I've done to Steffy without knowing that I'm doing it that have hurt her deeply and she still loves me." Liam looks over at Thomas. "It's the least I can do."

"So, are you ready to go to Paris?" Thomas asks.

"Not yet. There are some things I need to do first. I need to find my own place, preferably a house. Fix the place up and do a room for the baby. Find myself a job and get settled there. I also need to change my last name back to Cooper."

"Why don't we start a company of our own?" Wyatt walks over to the armchair. "That name change might be a good idea for me too! I kind of miss being Wyatt Fuller."

"Yeah, I can't imagine what my stepdad thought when he found out I had changed my name. It's time to honor my parents again!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Thomas walks over to the fridge. "Something I'm missing right now is a beer. But I can wait till I'm back home."

"Let's get this done before planning out our future!" Wyatt gets moving again.

~Floating memories~

 _Paris_

 _Taylor´s house_

 _6 pm_

Taylor walked up the stairs to wake up her daughter for dinner. "Steffy! It's time to wake up!"

She whispers to her daughter while caressing her hair to gently wake her up.

"Is it dinner?"

"Yes, your father, Caroline and Douglas are already sitting at the table ready to eat."

"Dads here?" Steffy looks at her mother with confusion in her eyes.

"You met him just a few hours ago before going to sleep." She puts her hand on Steffy´s forehead to check if she has a fever. "You're really warm, we should check if you have a fever."

She leaves her daughter and goes into her ensuit to fetch a thermometer to check her daughters temperature. She walks back and hands it to Steffy. When it beeps, it says 39.6 degrees Celsius.

"I need to call your OB, that's a really high fever you've got going on there!" Taylor caresses her daughter's cheek and then she leaves.

She walks downstairs and sees that their guests are still waiting, so she walks over. "Yeah, so, you can start eating. I need to make a call because Steffy has developed a fever and I'm not sure it's safe for her to have one."

"Why wouldn't it be safe for Steffy to have a fever?" This just added on Ridge´s confusion.

"It's not for me to say." Taylor excuses herself and goes to make the phone call.

Then she walks back up to her daughter.

"She's coming in a little bit to check on you!" Taylor puts down a glass of water on the bedside table next to Steffy.

Steffy can barely focus on what her mother is saying. But she nods anyway. She goes and dampens a cloth and takes it back to lay it on Steffy´s forehead and then walk down stairs to wait for the OB to come.

The doorbell rings and when Taylor opens the door, the OB is standing on the other side, but there's also a man with her that introduces himself as a doctor who works at the same clinic, just a different department. The OB had decided that she needed someone that wasn't as specialized on one part of the body as her with her to this appointment.

"Thank you for coming!" She starts leading them up to Steffy´s bedroom.

Once they get there, the OB takes out a heartbeat monitor to listen to the baby's heartbeat.

"Well, the baby doesn't seem to be in any distress, I'll come by tomorrow and listen to its heartbeat again just to make sure it's still okay." She then talks a little with the doctor. "Dr. Marron doesn't seem to think that it's nothing but a little bug, because she's pregnant, he doesn't want to expose the baby to any antibiotics at the moment, so she'll just have to ride it out, she should be just fine though, there's no need to worry right now. She could be just fine tomorrow! Just make sure she drinks lots of fluids and make sure she eats. Get her a blanket for when she has chills. While fighting fevers it's always best to have multiple layers so that you can remove one if you get hot and add one if you get cold. As I said, she'll be fine and I'm coming over tomorrow before work to check on her."

"Thank you!" Taylor shakes both their hands and then leads them downstairs again.

After sending them off, Taylor walks to the kitchen and sits down to eat. "She'll be fine, there was nothing to be too concerned about."

Just as she's about to take her fourth bite, her cellphone rings. She sees that it's her son.

"Hi Thomas!"

" _Hi mom! I just wanted to let you know that we'll be coming to Paris in a while. Liam will explain when we get there, but it's not bad._ "

"So, he didn't sign the papers then?"

" _Not yet. He might in the future, but he's willing to put it behind them and work on getting to know each other again. If it doesn't work, they'll sign the papers then._ "

"Good, do you know when you'll be coming to Paris?"

" _No, he wanted to get some things done before that could happen. He wanted to find himself a new place, change his last name back to Cooper and start up a company with his brother before dragging Steffy into the mess that would be his life if she came back now or if he were to go to Paris right now._ "

"Well, it's good he has his priorities straight!" Taylor chuckles.

" _Yeah, I was taken aback by what he said. I think what we pointed out to him last night made an impact._ "

"Okay. I'm guessing you had a good talk with him then."

" _We did. We pointed out some things that he had done wrong that might have made his mistakes pile build up and this time Steffy just had enough. Then his father came by the cliff house just now and it made Liam think. Anyway, has dad and Douglas gotten there? How is Steffy doing?_ "

"Ridge, Douglas and Caroline got here a few hours ago, we're eating lunch right now." Taylor looks around herself. "Steffy is fighting of a fever right now, but the doctors said she'd be fine, she just has to fight it off."

" _Oh, good! Tell Steffy to get better by the time we get there!_ "

"I will!" Taylor sees that Ridge would like to talk to Thomas. "Your father would like a word."

" _Okay!_ "

She hands over the phone and listens to Ridge talking to Thomas about things going on at Forrester this week. They hang up five minutes later and it seems like Ridge and Thomas had a good talk.

Suddenly, Taylor hears Steffy calling out for her, so she gets up to go to her daughter. She gets there and feels the cloth on Steffy´s forehead, it's dried out completely so she takes it and walks back in to place it back on Steffy´s head. The moment she does, Steffy calms down and goes back to sleep.

The glass on Steffy´s bedside table is also empty so Taylor fills it up before going downstairs to find a pitcher filling it up with ice and water. Then she walks upstairs again and puts the pitcher down next to the glass on a towel because of the water forming on the outside of the pitcher.

" _Thank you, mom!_ " She hears as barely a whisper coming from the bed as she's walking out from the bedroom.

"Anything for you my darling!"

~Floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **Yes! Steffy has a fever and Liam has decided to go back to where they started. Wipe out their whole history and just start over.**

 **What do you think? Did Liam make a good choice? In regards to both Steffy and SP/Bill/Cliffhouse.**

 **Giving the first punch to Brooke was not something I thought of when I started writing this chapter, but apparently, she wanted it so she got it. I'm also proud of Wyatt for decking his father.**

 **Now, it might seem like Liam isn't reacting the way he's supposed to, like he's going way too easy on Steffy, but as stated by Carter, Thomas and Wyatt, Liam has gone off on Steffy previously without having all the information and he's made an a$$ of himself. This also made him realize that Steffy most certainly believed that they were completely over as she never would have cheated on him otherwise. There is so much that he's done that has caused her pain before, that this must have been a reaction to everything that has been swept under the rug by Steffy previously in their relationship. My Liam Cooper has grown since Steffy disappeared about five months ago, even though it doesn't seem like it. He knows what's important and where his priorities should be!**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN:**

 **I am having a little trouble with this one, the first few chapters flowed out like water in a stream, then something happened and I've been working on chapter five for the last five months, it is done though at the time of posting this and chapter six has been started on. My inspiration seems to just be missing at this point in time.**

 **Anyway. As always, I do not own a single thing!**

Floating memories

 **Chapter four**

 _April 1_ _st_ _2018_

 _Paris_

 _Taylor´s house_

Ridge woke up that morning feeling bewildered, meeting Steffy yesterday had him feeling uneasy, he could tell that there was something she didn't want him to know, but that she knew she'd have to tell him. When he first woke up, he wasn't entirely sure where he was, but he felt safe none the less.

The clock showed him that it was 6:32 am when he woke up and he could hear someone puttering about in the kitchen, believing it was his former wife, he puts on the robe that Taylor had left for him over his pajamas and then he walks into the kitchen, only to find his daughter looking through the cupboards.

She's wearing an oversized hoodie, a pair of leggings, he can see a t-shirt or a tank top peeking through in between the hoodie and leggings and she's wearing a knitted pair of socks on her feet. She's got her hair up in a bun and she seem to be having trouble getting herself up from where she bent down to look in one of the cupboards.

"Good morning!" His greeting sends her tumbling down on the floor.

"Jeezez, scare a girl why don't you." Her tone is a little angrier then she planned on. "Help me up, would you?"

He walks over and holds his hands out and helps her pull herself up. He can feel that she's still fighting the fever and should probably be in bed.

"Shouldn't you be lying in bed right now? I can feel that you're still fighting the fever!"

"I probably should and I'm going to go to bed in just a little while. I'm just hungry and needed something to eat. Mom always leaves me a plate in the fridge when she leaves for work in the morning, but since it's Sunday, it's her day off and she knows I don't wake up this early normally, but I didn't eat anything for dinner so I need food." She looks up at him with her eyes glistening with fever.

"You just sit down and I'll make you some food, what would you like to have?"

Steffy then looks like she's trying to listen to something and then she looks up again. "Bacon slices, eggs and oatmeal with milk and berries."

Ridge laughs. "That's probably the most specific I've ever heard you order food at home ever."

"Yeah, well, I've started listening to my body these last few months and I always give it what it wants to eat."

"Well, it seems like it's working out really well for you. You look so much healthier then when you left for this business trip I don't remember sending you on." Ridge raises his eyebrows.

"Yeah, about that. Let's not talk about that ever other then it was a cover up for what I was really doing and it was breaking my heart the whole time."

"Okay, I don't like it, but I'll drop it."

"Thank you! I'd like to keep that part of the story between the people it concerns and you aren't one of them and trust me, you should be thankful for it! I am sorry I dragged the company into it though!"

Ridge nods his head and starts on cooking Steffy´s breakfast. They continue talking for a little while and then she goes quiet, so he turns around and sees her sleeping with her head laying on her arms on the kitchen table. Since the food isn't done yet, he decides to let her stay like that.

Seven minutes later, he can hear the alarm clocks both upstairs in his ex-wife's bedroom as well as the one in the room he, Caroline and Douglas are currently occupying. Five minutes after that, he can hear footsteps on the stairs and Caroline closing the door.

Caroline is the first to come to the kitchen. "Good morning!" She says starting really chipper and then sees Steffy sleeping with her head on the table and toning her greeting down.

Taylor comes down the stairs and stops in her tracks as she watches her daughter sleeping.

"Good morning!" She walks over to the fridge to get the berries and syrup out as Ridge has already started on the eggs and bacon. "How long has she been up for?"

"I don't know, I walked in on her going through the cupboards looking for something. She told me that you'd normally make her something and leave it on a plate in the fridge, but as it's Sunday today you'd normally sleep in a little and since she'd normally not get up until later then this as well as her not having had dinner, she was hungry. So, I offered to make her breakfast and she asked that I make her eggs, bacon and oatmeal with berries and milk. It seems like it's a standing breakfast in this house." He points to the things Taylor still haven't put down on the table.

"Yeah, well, it's Sunday and on Sunday we always have oatmeal and berries with milk. During the weeks we have overnight oats and berries, but on Sundays we have a warm breakfast."

"Makes sense!" Caroline agrees. "Especially now that it's still cold out."

There's a ring on the doorbell.

"Who would be coming here this early?" Ridge turns to Taylor.

"That would be one of the doctors that were here yesterday to check on Steffy."

Taylor walks away and opens the door to let the OB in.

"So, how's the patient doing?"

Taylor chuckles. "She's currently sleeping with her head on the kitchen table waiting for breakfast, she seems less warm so I'm guessing the fever broke sometime last night and she had some energy this morning according to her father."

"Let's check on her then."

Taylor shows her to the kitchen and shows her Steffy sleeping.

Taylor walks over to try and wake Steffy up, which she slowly does.

"Steffy! Dr Maríon is here. Time to wake up!"

"Oh! I vaguely remember you being here last night. I think."

"Well, you seem to be doing much better today than you did yesterday! Shall we do a quick examination before I leave?" Dr Maríon had been warned that Ridge and Caroline didn't know about the pregnancy.

Steffy gets up instantly and walks over to the guest bedroom down the hall the other way from the kitchen.

They listen to the baby´s heartbeat and check Steffy´s temperature. 38.1 degrees Celsius.

"That's some good working your body did last night! One more degree and you'll be back to normal!" The OB turns around to put her things back in her bag. "LO seems to be doing good as well. No need to worry! Remember to eat, drink and sleep while you can and you should be good by this afternoon, if not, sleep, eat and drink some more!"

"That's good! I'll call you this evening to let you know how she's doing!"

"That's a good idea!"

Ridge calls down the hall that breakfast is ready. Steffy gets up from the bed and rushes to the kitchen.

Dr Maríon and Taylor just look after her. "Yeah, she's doing better!"

Taylor nods her head to the statement.

~Floating memories~

 _Los Angeles_

 _Thomas apartment_

Liam hadn't gone to bed last night. There was just too much to think about. He had spent the night listing up all the things that he had done that could potentially have caused Steffy pain and then listed everything that she had done that caused him pain.

The long list he had come up with for his side of the list didn't hold a candle to what Steffy had done by sleeping with his father on their own, but when you put all of them together, he could clearly see all of the things that Steffy had buried her feelings about and he realized that she must have been in so much pain over the Spectra-debacle and everything that had happened before that she really must have thought they were over and he really couldn't fault her for something she'd done while under such an amount of emotional stress.

It was almost seven in the morning when he fell asleep on the couch, he was so drained that he hadn't even been able to get to bed.

Two hours later, Thomas start stirring in his bed and after checking the time, he knows its time for breakfast. So, he goes out into the kitchen and looks over into the living area and sees Liam´s head over the back of the couch. He walks over and sees that Liam is sleeping, then he looks over at the note pad on the coffee table.

"Well, someone was productive last night." He mumbles to keep Liam from waking up.

He then walks back to the kitchen and starts cooking breakfast. He takes out the eggs, bacon, milk and berries from the fridge, then the oats and pots from the cupboards. He didn't like syrup on his oatmeal, so he skips the maple syrup.

He places the bacon on a baking sheet and stuff them into the oven, he dumps the eggs in a frying pan and measures up the water for the oatmeal.

When the bacon is done, he takes it out and assembles his breakfast, the smell of the bacon wakes Liam up.

"Good morning!" Thomas watches Liam waking up.

"Oh, there's nothing good about it."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. I found out my father blackmailed my wife into coming with him to Europe after they had sex before that, while my wife was an emotional mess two days ago which caused me to look back at our relationship, no matter what kind it may have been."

"And what did you find?"

"Oh, so much. Steffy had so much hurt built up inside I can't blame her for acting on it. I've also realized that Steffy has changed so much of herself in order to make our relationship work while I haven't changed a thing and if I loved her as much as I say I do, I shouldn't have let her change so much of herself. I should've stopped her."

"Well, at least you see it now. What was it about Steffy that made you love her in the first place?"

"Well, she was there for me when I needed someone to talk to. People seem to think that I only love Steffy because of her sensuality or the fact that she used seduction to get with me in the first place." He sees Thomas nod his head. "But that's not it, it's just the icing on the cake. Steffy never tried to change me, she gave advice when I needed them and she was there when I needed someone. When we talked, she listened to what I had to say and then gave her opinion, she never talked over me and I felt content just sitting in her presence. With Hope I felt secure, but up the wall at the same time, like I just couldn't settle down, most of the time when I needed to talk to Hope, I felt like she was rushed, she never really had time to talk to me. Mine and Steffy´s relationship evolved over time, mine and Hope´s just boomed. It was like she's with Oliver one day and then two days later she's with me. I think I fell so slowly for Steffy that I didn't even notice it until it was too late."

"Maybe that's why Hope and her family were having so much trouble realizing that you actually did/do love Steffy. In their world, if it's not instant fireworks, it's just not love. Brooke had it with my dad, Donna had it with Justin, Katie had it with your dad, Brooke had it with Nick, Bridget had it with Nick. None of them have let love just grow, like with my parents, Thorne and Macy, Thorne and Darla, mom and Nick and you and Steffy!"

"Yeah, it makes sense. We were such a slow burn that we actually got to know each other before the love was revealed. Everything went so fast with Hope that after a while I was just with her because I felt I owed it to her to see where we could end up."

"That's a really bad place to be."

"Yeah, but I realized that too late and caused so much hurt for both Hope and Steffy in the process."

"Well, it's good that you've finally thought about what went wrong in that horrific saga."

"I've been to focused on that everyone else did so much to hurt mine and Hope´s relationship that I didn't even see how much I was hurting Hope and Steffy in the process. My dad and everyone else were just taking advantage of my own inability to decide without someone else deciding for me. More often than not, Hope and Steffy made them."

"Well, it's time you make a decision for yourself by yourself then don't you think?"

"Yes, it is time and I have made a decision."

"What might that be?"

"I'm going to work on my marriage and no one is going to tell me that it's the wrong thing to do. Because if someone does, they really aren't supportive of me and my decisions and I don't need that in my life." Thomas sees the determination on Liam´s face. "But first, I'm going to get my own life back on track! I'm not that into bringing Steffy into the mess that is my life right now. So, I'm going to go and change my name back to Liam Cooper."

"You may want to wait until Wyatt get here, he wanted to do the same remember!" Thomas reminds him.

"Right, he did. Thank you!"

"I believe you were going to start up your business together as well, I'm going to go to Forrester to check out some numbers that dad didn't get to finish before he left for Paris, you all can plan for your future here. I'll be back in a few hours, I need to talk to dad about those numbers. Do you want breakfast?"

"I'll wait for Wyatt to come over, we might grab a bite on the way to find out the easiest way to change our names."

"Sounds good to me! I'll see you later!"

Thomas then walk and gets himself ready to go to the office.

Twenty minutes after Thomas leaves, Liam opens the door to let his brother in.

"So, how was your first night rooming with your wife's brother? Get much sleep?"

"It was alright, didn't get much sleep, but I did get confirmation that I've messed my life up beyond recognition."

"You think?"

Liam glances at his brother and sighs. "Yeah, I screwed so much up. I'm sorry for the mess I caused after Australia! And the mess that caused Australia to happen. I should have told you about Ivy and listened to Steffy about it."

"I'm glad you think so, maybe Steffy cheating on you will make you change somethings about yourself? Make you grow as a person?"

"Maybe I needed this."

"So, what do you think about Hope coming back for Brooke and Thorne´s wedding?"

"Frankly, I couldn't care less. My focus is getting myself in check for when Steffy comes home. Hope isn't my concern anymore. She hasn't been since she married you, no offence!"

"None taken. I hope she has fun at the wedding."

"Hopefully she's moved on just like I have. If she hasn't that's not my concern. I have too much stuff in my own life to listen to her stuff. Especially if it has to do with Steffy and I."

"Should we start on the important stuff then?"

Liam nods his head and they start researching changing their name back to the name they had when they arrived in LA. After a while it gets too much and they break for lunch.

"Who knew changing your name was that difficult? This is exhausting." Wyatt sinks into the chair he´s sitting on with a sigh.

"Yeah, well considering the times we're living in I would probably expect it to be difficult to change your name."

"You have a point. It makes sense."

As the lock turns in the door, they look over to see Thomas coming through the door with two boxes of pizza. He closes the door and dumps the keys on the hook on the door, looks into the kitchen and sees the two brothers.

"Hey! You all hungry?"

"Yes!" Wyatt exclaims.

"I thought so, so I brought pizza home with me. How's it going getting back to the old you? Getting Liam Cooper and Wyatt Fuller back?"

"Well, there's been a few stones thrown into the mix, but we'll get there."

"That's too bad, but hopefully once you get things in motion they'll pick up speed soon."

"Do you know anything about how Steffy is doing? Is the baby okay?"

"Steffy is fighting a fever right now, but the baby is fine."

"Do they know if it's a boy or girl?"

"I don't believe so, I asked mom yesterday, but she didn't tell me." Thomas shakes his head.

"Oh."

"She's probably waiting to hear if you're signing the papers before finding out what she's carrying. I think she wants to have you there when she finds out, but if you're signing the papers, I think she'd find out with you over the phone or something. If you're not signing the papers, she'd rather have you there, either to find out the gender or deliver the baby."

"Yeah, that makes sense.." Liam trails off before suddenly looking up. "When is she due to deliver?"

"I'm not sure, but if she got pregnant before she left for that trip with your father, I'd say some time in July? Should I call mom and ask?" Liam nods his head so Thomas brings his phone out and calls his mother.

It takes a few rings before she answers.

" _Hello!_ "

"Hi mom!"

" _Oh, hi Thomas, how are you doing?_ "

"I'm doing good, but Liam had a question."

" _Okay._ "

"When is the baby´s due date?"

" _July 27_ _th_ _is the latest suggestion, but you never know_."

"Okay, I'll let him know."

" _Good. Was there anything else you needed?_ "

"No, I already talked to dad about the numbers so I have nothing else to talk about at the moment. Is Douglas doing okay?"

" _He seems to have traveled really well. Such a good baby!_ "

"I'm thinking he has that after his mother."

" _Yeah, I agree with that!_ "

"How is Steffy doing today?"

" _The fever broke during the night, she ate a big breakfast and should be good to go by nightfall."_

"That's great! Things are moving along over here as well. I'm thinking we might be able to come to Paris around the beginning or middle of July! As long as all the paperwork is ready to go with the company we should be able to come by then."

" _That would be great, I know Steffy would like Liam to be here."_

"You've never said anything to do with the baby since Dad, Caroline and Douglas got there, do they not know about the pregnancy?"

" _No, they don't. It's not my news to tell! It's also connected to the thing with the thing so I'm staying away from it."_

"It might be a good idea for Steffy to tell them though, it's not that long until the baby comes."

" _I think she's scared of how he's going to react, but apparently they had a talk this morning and he's not going to be prying into it."_

"Well, that's good then. Might be the first time ever he's just let something go. She must have had a really good reason for him not knowing the truth."

" _Yeah, I guess she did. Anyway, make sure everything goes the way it should in LA and I'll see to it that things work out for the best over here."_

"I'll do that!"

" _Good, I'll talk to you later!"_

"I love you mom! I'll call with updates!"

" _Good! I'll call with updates from this side of the Atlantic as well!"_

"We'll appreciate it! Bye mom!"

" _Good by Thomas! I love you!"_

They hang up and Thomas turns back to Liam. "Well, I was right about Steffy wanting you there when the baby is born. It's due on July 27th, so I'm thinking we go to Paris during the beginning of July and hopefully all of your papers are done by then."

"You know, I've been thinking." Both Liam and Thomas turn their heads towards Wyatt.

"What about?"

"Well, I'm proud of being your brother." Liam nods his head in agreement. "Why don't we change our last names into the same one? Start a whole new family line."

"You know, that actually sounds good. What should it be though? I mean, no offence, but I'd really not like to have Fuller as my last name and I'm guessing Cooper isn't a preference of yours either."

"I'm not entirely sure, had our mothers had the same name, we could've used that as our last name."

"What about Keinn? Liam and Wyatt Keinn?" Thomas jumps in. Wyatt looks the name up on google.

"Well, with that pronunciation I think it could be a contender. I'm just not sure."

"What about joining out names together in some fashion?"

"What? Like Wyam? Or Liatt?"

"Liam Liatt?" Thomas makes a face. "Doesn't really have a nice ring to it does it? Wyatt Wyam has the same problem."

"Yeah. Maybe Keinn is the best option we've got. Unless Cooller or Fulper is an option?" Liam scratches the side of his head.

"Wyatt Cooller. Liam Fulper. Both of those might work actually. Both of you try to write both names to see which you prefer."

Both brothers grab a pen and write down the two options.

"I'm thinking Cooller is the best option, but I also think that Keinn might be the way to go." Wyatt looks up from the paper and puts the pen up to his lips.

"You know, Steffy and the baby will have to change their last name as well." Thomas points out.

"Yeah, but she can just remove the -Spencer to her name and go by Forrester. It might be better for the baby to have the last name Forrester as well. At least until all this is figured out."

"Yeah, that is true! Maybe you should get the name change done quickly so that the baby can have the name it's supposed to have as it grows up?" Thomas picks up a new piece of pizza.

~Floating memories~

 _Katie Logan´s house_

The knock on the door alerted her to the fact that someone was coming.

Wyatt had moved in about a month ago and their relationship was blossoming.

She calls for the person on the other side to come in. The door opens and as Brooke walks in, she can see that there's something going on.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, it seems Bill has done something unforgivable and his two oldest sons are now cutting all ties. He also forgot to let me know about me not signing the divorce papers, but that's not important."

"What has he done now? Why would Wyatt and Liam break all ties with him?"

"You didn't know? I mean you live with his oldest?"

"Wyatt came home really late last night and I was already sleeping. He spent a big part of yesterday with his brother. What they did I don't know anything about."

"I walked in on Wyatt blasting his father two days ago about something he should probably tell you, I punched him, gave him a piece of my mind and then Wyatt punched his lights out. It's really bad."

"I'm guessing he's just not ready to tell me yet, if they're cutting all ties, they've probably have a lot to do before they'd even be able to tell me."

"I guess."

"Does this have to do with the impromptu flight to Paris that Ridge, Caroline and Douglas took?"

"Yes. I made him go because letting Ridge stay could've caused more damage then has already been done."

"That does not sound good."

"It's not."

"So, when is Hope arriving?"

"She's not coming yet, we've had to cancel the wedding because I'm not divorced. Bill got the divorce papers, signed them but didn't turn them in because I hadn't signed them."

"Well, that's too bad. I'm sorry!"

"It happened, Thorne understood and we'll just wait until we can get married."

"So, you're one hundred percent sure that this is what you want? You're not just doing this because you're pissed at Ridge because he left you for Caroline when she came back?"

"I was unsure about marrying Ridge, when we announced our engagement at Christmas, I could feel it in my gut that it was wrong. Then Caroline walked through the door with Douglas and Thomas and I just knew because I saw the look on her face and the look on Ridge´s face. I decided to see how long they could stay away from each other. Didn't take long, so here we are. Yes, Thorne came on a little strong when he returned and his reasons for acting the way he did was way over the top, but he and I have always had this friendship as the base of our relationship and when I realized that what Ridge and I had isn't what we have, letting this notion that Ridge and I belong together go was the easiest thing I've done. Thorne and I have known each other for almost forty years. Letting the love grow was wonderful."

"Good!" Katie smiles at her older sister. "He's been through so much these last few years. He doesn't need more heartache!"

"No, he does not and I'm happy that I could help him let go of the anger he held towards certain people in the family."

"Yeah, he came back with a chip on his shoulder, didn't he?"

"He did." Brooke looks down. "But that's over now."

"Him realizing that designing isn't what he should do probably released a lot of the tension between him and Ridge?"

"Yeah." Brooke sighs.

~Floating memories~

 _Taylor´s house_

 _Paris_

That evening the fever had broken completely, Steffy passed 37.0 degrees Celsius at 5:47 pm and she was back to her normal self as the clock struck 6 pm.

"So, what are we having for dinner?" Steffy comes walking down the stairs and Taylor looks up from the computer.

"I'm thinking we'll let you decide!" A smile breaks out on Steffy´s face.

"I'm not sure what I want to eat. Someone is having trouble deciding." Steffy caresses her belly as she's talking.

"What do you mean someone is having trouble deciding?" Ridge comes walking out the door of the room he's sharing with Caroline, with Caroline coming out carrying Douglas right behind him. "And why are you caressing your belly like that?"

Steffy´s head jolts over to where her father is and then snaps back to her mother. "When did they get here?" Steffy is in chock.

"They got here yesterday. I guess your fever caused you to forget."

"Oh crap." Steffy looks all over the place and then settles down on her father. She places her hands on her hips. "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any?" She turns her head towards her mother, who nods.

"As good a time as any what?" Ridge is confused, but the lightbulb has turned on in Caroline´s mind.

"You're about to be a grandfather, Ridge. Steffy´s pregnant." Caroline looks over at Steffy to get confirmation.

"Yeah."

"How long have you known?" Ridge turns his head towards his ex-wife.

"Since I found her in Monaco. She was already showing when I got there. So just under three months?"

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell. Liam just found out a few days ago. Steffy needed to remember everything before anyone else was to find out."

Ridge just nods his head. "Did you know before you left?"

"No, I was told by the doctor in Monaco when I woke up from my coma. I was three months along then. I was so big they thought I might be carrying twins, but I'm not. Baby has settled now though and it's laying side to side as opposed to front to back. I've got four months left. They expect Little One to change positions during those months because the position LO is in right now is about to lose room to grow."

Ridge´s eyes start tearing up. "Is it Liam´s baby?"

"Yes, Liam is the father."

"Why isn't he here then?"

Steffy looks over at her mother.

"Liam isn't here yet because he wasn't told until two days ago about the baby because I knew Liam would want to come sooner then Steffy was ready for. He was told on Friday by our son and since then he's made some changes in his life, or at least started on them. He, Thomas and Wyatt will be coming to Paris at the end of June or during the beginning or middle of July."

"Oh."

"Yeah, my daughter came first until she remembered everything, she then was allowed to decide how things would progress."

"I get it. Is that why you didn't want to hug me yesterday when we got here?"

"Part of it yes. I also wasn't feeling good!"

Ridge just smiles at his daughter.

"I know how much you wanted a baby with Liam after losing 'Aspen'."

"Yeah, well, here I am!" Steffy runs her hand over her stomach with a big smile on her face.

~Floating memories~

Wyatt comes home late that evening again. There has been great progress though, they had gotten in touch with a lawyer that specialized in helping people change their names.

He walks through the door, puts his keys in the bowl and is startled when he sees that Katie is sitting by the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

"How are you doing?"

"Well, it's been a weird few days so I'm not really sure."

He takes her hand and leads her over to the couch.

"Thomas called me on Friday because he needed my help with something. When I got to his apartment, Carter was also there. We were led inside, told to sit down at the kitchen table and were presented with an envelope. Thomas explained that in said envelope there were divorce papers for Liam as well as a letter explaining what had happened when Steffy disappeared."

"Why would Steffy give Liam a divorce?"

"That's what we asked as well, apparently the answer to that question was in the letter that Steffy had written."

"Okay? What was in the letter then?"

"Well, it seemed like Steffy had lost all faith in her and Liam after the Spectra-debacle, so she had gone to the Forrester guesthouse to regain her composure and think about what she was going to do. Liam apparently called her over and over to try and find out where she was, she wouldn't answer. She did answer when Bill called her though."

The pieces are starting to fall into place for Katie.

"Did Bill find her?"

"He did and some things happened. He seduced her and then blackmailed her into coming with him to Europe. Steffy fell into the ocean while trying to leave him and hit her head, leading to memory loss and a concussion. She was in a coma for about a month. She sent the divorce papers with the letter to give Liam the option of signing them when he found out."

"Did he sign them?"

"No, he's decided that it's time he puts some effort into their relationship and tries to change his ways for her."

Katie just nods her head. "What about Hope?"

"He has no interest in her anymore the moment she married me is the moment he subconsciously let her go. Any interest he paid her while she was married to me was done so due to him thinking they'd need to have one more chance. Hope is a fling of the past and he'll never be interested in her that way again. Steffy is the one Liam wants to spend the rest of his life with and that's not going to change."

"But she slept with his father?"

"Yeah, but after thinking about it, he recognized that she'd never have done it unless she was sure there was no chance for them anymore. Steffy has been faithful to him for years now and Thomas explained that Steffy had just had enough of being put second to Liam´s current damsel in distress."

"That is true. I have had trouble understanding why Steffy put up with it for so long. I guess it's true what Ridge said about his daughter. She loves hard and unless you do something unforgivable, she'll never stop loving you."

"That's what Thomas said, maybe not in those exact words, but the meaning is the same."

"It's a shame I didn't realize that back when the triangle from down there was going on."

"Steffy has also forgiven Liam for so many things that him forgiving her sleeping with his father was the only logical thing to do. Yes, Liam is hurt that she did it. But how many things hasn't Liam done in their relationship that have hurt Steffy and that she has forgiven him for?"

"Yeah, there is probably a lot of things that Steffy has just let go. But all those things must have been building up either way."

"Yeah, she wouldn't have thought there was no way they could reconcile otherwise. She had enough, then Bill seduced her and she realized that the Spectra-debacle wasn't that big of a deal. She realized they could work through anything. Then Bill came and blackmailed her with the idea of him telling Liam that Steffy seduced him, Steffy was scared he might actually do it and then she disappeared. Liam has known that Steffy is in Paris since January, Bill does not know where she is."

"Well, it's been obvious Liam knew where Steffy was, especially with the speed he stopped looking for her when he found out where she was in January?"

"I agree with that. He was very obvious when he found out. He stopped searching for her and that was that. Bill also started acting even weirder when Liam relaxed."

"This is why Brooke told Ridge to go to Paris isn't it?"

"It is, I'm thinking Brooke decided to save Ridge some jailtime for beating Bill to death."

"You know, it's so strange to hear you refer to your father as Bill. Brooke was here to let me know that Bill had done something that made you and Liam want to disown him. But I didn't think it would be so definite."

"We moved Liam out of the cliff house yesterday and he's now living with Thomas. Liam and I are changing our names to start our own family line and we're going to start up a business. Liam wanted to get his life back on track after all of these changes before going to see Steffy in Paris."

"Sounds like a good plan to me."

"Yeah, once we decided it all happened so fast. We've talked to a lawyer today that's going to help us with everything."

Katie nods her head.

"The only Spencer's we want to have contact with is Will, Caroline and her mothers. Although, Caroline will become a Forrester pretty soon."

"She is and you won't have any trouble not having contact with Will since you're living with his mother!" Katie chuckles.

"That is true!" He places a kiss on her lips. "Mmm. Nice. Should we get ready for bed? Tomorrow´s a busy day."

"Yeah, I'm almost ready. Just got to brush my teeth."

~Floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **That's chapter four. Tell me what you thought!**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN:**

 **As always I don't own a thing other then the computer this is written on!**

Floating memories

 **Chapter five**

 _May 8_ _th_ _2018_

 _Los Angeles_

 _Thomas and Liam´s apartment_

A lot had happened over the last month, Liam had discovered that he liked living with Thomas and Thomas had discovered that Liam was a good person to share your space with. After an incident that happened after Thomas had been out with friends, came home and did what he normally does after such an evening, throw himself on the couch and fall asleep on it, unfortunately, Liam had fallen asleep watching a movie. Concequently, Thomas threw himself on the couch, Liam yelped and threw him off and Thomas ended up in the ER with a gash on his head as well as a concussion after falling head first into the coffee table. Breakfast and lunch the next day was not pleasant and this was causing Liam to start realizing that finding his own place was needed, not because he didn't like living with Thomas, he just had a wife and future child to consider.

Liam and Wyatt had started the journey towards their new family line and were just waiting to get their last name approved. The business had gotten a few clients and was doing good, however, getting into the IT-business was hard and Liam had somehow forgotten a lot of the things he was educated to do, so he planned on taking a class to get himself back in the game. Wyatt didn't have any trouble as his job was the same he had at both his mothers and Spencer Publication. Spreading the word that they're there if someone needs their services.

The last week or so, Liam had started looking for a new house for him to live in and today was the day he'd bring it up to Thomas.

They're currently eating breakfast.

"So, you know how I can't live here forever?" He looks over and sees Thomas nod his head. "Well, I found two houses and I thought you'd like to come with me to look at them so that they'd be good for Steffy and the baby as well?"

"That's good! I would like to come!" Thomas takes his phone out to check his 'to do'-list. "Do you have any viewings lined up already?"

"Yes, tonight at 6 and then tomorrow at 11 am. They're the two houses that matches my needs the most, they are also nice to look at. But I need to get the feel for them before deciding and I figured the guy who's lived with Steffy for almost her entire life would be the best replacement for her as she's not here."

"Sounds good! Should we meet at the first house tonight then? I've got a lot to do today."

"Yeah. I'm going to the school to get my schedule and booklist and then I'll be ready to go! I'll send you the address!"

"Great, I'll see you there. If I don't get done sooner than expected."

~Floating memories~

 _June 23_ _rd_

 _Paris_

 _Taylor's house_

Ridge, Caroline and Douglas had been in Paris for over a month now and Ridge still didn't know what had caused Steffy to end up in the hospital in Monaco, but he had done what he promised Steffy during their talk that morning. He had put it away and he had no plans on asking her. He figured that if there was a need for him to know, he'd find out.

Taylor was so happy to get to spend so much time with her grandson and her daughter. Spending time with Steffy while her memory was missing still was not the same as spending time with her now. They still didn't know if Little One was a boy or a girl, but they were doing okay either way.

Steffy was making the most of her nephew being in Paris and spent a lot of her time with the two-year-old and his mother. She was however a little over seven months along now and she was getting uncomfortable.

Caroline on the other hand loved watching Steffy 'suffer' through her pregnancy as Steffy had been pestering her during her very own pregnancy. She knew it had been done in good spirits, but as she was going through it, it didn't feel like it.

Douglas adored his aunt and grandmother and it made Caroline sad that they hadn't been to see Taylor before this, sure, Taylor hadn't made much effort to see Douglas herself, but Caroline would have had an easier time to hop on a plane and gone to see her then Taylor had the other way. But they were here now and were planning on staying at least another month.

They had planned on staying until Thomas and Liam came over, but seeing as it was a little uncertain just when that would happen, Ridge had put CEO-duties on Quinn of all people, he knew however that since Quinn had owned her own company and been the CEO of that company for almost her son's entire life, she would do just fine. She was also taking pointers from him in certain decisions she had to make. She discussed things with him before either going along what she thought was best or the route he thought she should go.

Turns out Quinn had been doing a really good job, such a good job in fact that Steffy asked to step down as Co-CEO and let Quinn fill that position instead. Steffy felt that she was better used in the PR-department of the company anyway.

Spending time in Paris during the spring wasn't half bad that either. The temperature had crossed 15 degrees Celsius and it was warm enough to take a cup of coffee with you out on the porch in the morning.

Caroline and Ridge had gotten into the routine of the Hamilton-house hold very quickly and Caroline had some very informative conversations with both Hamilton-women. She had found some things out that made her realize that Steffy not telling Ridge was probably a good idea. It would be hard not to tell Ridge about it, but she also knew she might cause some damage that didn't need to be caused if she did tell him. So, she'd keep it to herself and only talk about it with the people who knows about it.

Today was Steffy´s second to last ultrasound and the whole family was on their way to the doctor's office to see Little One. There had been doctor's appointment earlier during the month they'd been there, but they hadn't involved an ultrasound.

Steffy was very quiet during the ride in, but her eyes lit up the moment the heartbeat filled the air.

"Do you hear that sound, Douglas?" Caroline bounces Douglas on her hip and watches him nod his head. "That's your cousin heart beating."

"LO heart!" Douglas lips breaks out into a big smile.

"Yes, Little One´s heart!"

The ultrasound technician looks over at Steffy with a smile on her lips. "Still no name I hear?"

"No, we're waiting for daddy to come over the ocean before deciding on that." Steffy looks at the screen like she's never seen it before.

"Good, I'm just going to do some measurements and then send the file to Dr. Maríon, she'll call you into her office and you'll get the results there. But Little One seems to be doing just fine!"

"Good!"

Taylor and Ridge gravitates towards each other and end up in a hug. The whole group watch as she takes the measurements and then wipes the gel off Steffy´s belly. "There we go, all done. You just wait in the hallway for Dr. Maríon and she'll be right out!"

Steffy pulls her leggings up and dress down before gathering her jacket and purse, then the whole group migrates out of the room and sits down in the hallway.

The visit with Dr. Marion doesn't take long and they're in the car on the way home within fifteen minutes.

Taylor pulls up on her driveway a little over an hour after leaving the OB´s office and they're in for a surprise.

"Hey! Seems like we have visitors!"

Steffy has been looking out the window the whole way and as she turns her attention to the patio of her mother's house, she sees three men waiting for them. One of them stand up as the car comes closer and walks down the stairs. The other two stay on the patio, both with a smile on their face.

Taylor drives the car so that she stops with the man on Steffy´s side of the car. He reaches out to open the door of the car and Steffy takes her seatbelt of. He reaches his hand inside the car and Steffy takes it before stepping out of it.

When she's standing upright, she looks him straight into his eyes and takes a deep breath in. "Liam!"

Then her knees loses their strength and she falls, but Liam is quick and catches her. He gathers her in his arms and picks her up, Taylor has gotten out of the car and throws her keys to her son that is still standing on the porch, he catches them and unlocks the door just as Liam is walking up the stairs.

He walks through the door and follows the hallway into the living room/kitchen/diner and places Steffy on the couch. He looks up when he hears footsteps following behind him.

"She's lost weight."

"Yeah, according to the doctor she's lost weight at the same time the baby has grown, so she's underweight. But she'll get the weight back once she stops worrying about the baby, you and your marriage." Taylor informs her son in law and Liam nods in response. "So, I take it everything has gone to plan in LA?"

"Yeah, Wyatt and I now have a thriving IT-company and we've changed our last name to Keinn."

As they've been talking, the rest of the group has entered the house.

"Good choice!" Taylor says directing it at Wyatt.

"I agree!" He says with a smile.

Steffy lets out a moan and her eyes flutters open. "Please tell me I'm not dreaming! Please say that he's really here!" She looks towards her mother.

"Yes, he's here honey!"

"Yeah, I'm here. I have something I need to talk to you about though."

"What do you need to talk about? Did you sign the divorce papers?"

"I did." He can see the disappointment in her eyes as well as the tears that are welling up. "I did so because I want our baby to have your last name and I want you to marry me as Liam Keinn and not Liam Spencer. I want us to be one of the founding couples of the Keinn-family line. I do not want my child to be born as a Spencer!"

"Why?" Ridge is surprised that Liam feels so strongly about this.

Caroline steps into his arms and whispers that he really doesn't want to know and to please stop asking about it. Ridge kisses the top of her head and says he'll stop. Liam looks up at his cousin and former father in law and sends Caroline a small smile to say thank you. Caroline smiles back.

Liam turns back to Steffy. "Do you understand why I signed those papers?"

"I'm not sure. But I am under pregnancy brain-influence right now. Although, you need to tell me something." Steffy starts fiddling with her hands and then looks him straight in the eyes.

"What do you need me to tell you?" He takes her hands in his and looks into her eyes.

"Do you want us still? Am I the one who you want to be with? Are you absolutely sure that Sally or Hope or Ivy or whoever isn't who you want to be with?" He can feel her hands shaking as she's waiting for his response.

"There is not one woman I want more then you and US is all I want." Liam gives a slight smile. "I know I messed up the whole Sally-thing and I should have been more focused on you then her, especially once you announced your feelings about it. I put you in an impossible situation and I really can't blame you for how you reacted."

"But I shouldn't have done **that,** no matter what my feelings were, I shouldn't have done that."

"Okay, so, would you have done **that** had Wyatt been the one to find you?"

"I honestly don't know. Had Wyatt said..." She looks around the room to find her father and Caroline still there, she sends a look Caroline´s way and Caroline just nods before grabbing her husband's arm and walking away. "..what Bill said that night, maybe. I felt like my world was falling apart, like our marriage was falling apart and my trust in you and your love for me was at an all-time low. The amount of trust I placed in you and your love for me when I saw you rolling around on our bed with Hope before I went to Paris just wasn't there anymore."

"Having read your letter, Steffy, I do not believe any of this would've happened had I been there." Wyatt interjects.

"But you don't know that?"

"Oh, yes I do, because unlike that man, I actually understand what a woman means when she tells you that she wants to be alone, although, I would've liked to have seen you before rushing off to slap my brothers head around a bit. I punched his lights out by the way, after reading the letter the first time. I went to confront him, Brooke came to talk to him at the same time, let's just say Brooke is quite the violent type."

Steffy just laughs a little as she's watching her former brother in law and former husband speak, then she turns her gaze back towards Liam. "I love you."

"I love you too!" Liam leans forward from where he's sitting and kisses her forehead. "Now, I think it's time for you to take a nap I believe."

"Yeah, it's about that time now isn't it? Have you thought of names for Little One?"

"No, I haven't, there's been so much going on that I haven't had the time." Liam sends her one more smile, then he picks her up again and carries her up to her room following Taylor´s lead.

The two watch Steffy fall asleep with a smile on her face, so much calmer and less tense than she's been since she got there.

When Steffy wakes up an hour and a half later, she has this distant memory of Liam coming to Paris but she's not sure it's real, until she looks over to the chair in one of the corners and sees her brother sitting there reading a book. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you read a book before that didn't involve school work."

Thomas´s head shoots up and when he sees that she's awake, he smiles. "Yeah, well, not much else to do here right now. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Is Liam still here?"

"Yeah, he's downstairs with mom, dad, Caroline and Wyatt. Douglas is taking a nap."

"Are you angry with me?" She tries pulling herself up into a sitting position, isn't doing so good though, so Thomas walks over and helps her.

"No, I'm not angry with you, I was angry with Liam and Bill though!" Thomas walks back to the armchair he was sitting in before helping her.

"Why aren't you angry with me?"

"Because you didn't create the lie and there were three people who knew about it before you did and those three people should have told me and/or Sally before you did and for Liam to just push his own responsibilities onto you because his father threatened to disown him, that's just wrong!" Thomas sighs. "Besides, it gave me a chance to spend time with my son and figure out my relationship with his mother."

"What about Sally then? Are the two of you back together?"

"No, Sally and I were never really going to make it, she needed far too much that I couldn't give her. I was more than likely only with her to get back at you for something you hadn't even done. Sure, Sally is a gorgeous girl, but her insides just didn't match the beauty on the outside." Thomas sends off a smile. "Do you remember Caitlyn Ramirez?"

"Ah, yeah, the girl who left you for Rick. I think mom said something about the two of you dating a while back."

"Yeah, she stopped by a couple of months ago and wanted to speak to me. Things evolved from there."

"Oh, she's the one you're dating now?"

"Yeah, we were to young the first time and the timing was so off. Besides, Rick is married now."

"That he is."

"So, how are things going at home?"

"Oh, you are not going to believe this! Wyatt and Katie are dating and living together!"

"Wow, when did that happen?"

"I'm not really sure, they outed themselves just after Caroline and I came back to LA. They're really happy though!"

"I would hope so! She's everything he'd ever wanted and more and the same thing could be said about him."

"Yeah, but that whole my mother is dating my brother-thing had me stumped for a while."

"Yeah, but that's common practice within the Logan family and besides Katie went the other way. Father to son, rather than son to father to son. But seriously, are you sure that you're not angry with me about the Caroline situation?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I was angry at first, then I realized that you didn't say anything to me because you knew that I needed time with Caroline and Douglas!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have kept it to myself otherwise, I also knew that you and Caroline needed time together for both of you to figure out what you wanted from each other as well as out of life. I could see it in your eyes that there were unresolved feelings there on both of your parts, but I could also see the same look in her eyes when she was watching dad, but there was a hint of longing there as well. The two of you needed closure and she and dad needed to open up their hearts for each other again."

"Brooke and Thorne are getting married again."

"Because that turned out so great the first time?"

"Yeah, no, but they let it all build into love this time."

"I hope they're happy!"

"Well, I believe they are."

"So, what are your thoughts about my situation?"

"Well, I know you and had there been any doubt that you and Liam weren't over, you wouldn't have slept with someone else." Thomas tilts his head. "I also read your letter and the emotions you described in it makes it clear beyond belief that you had given up on making things work with Liam and the self-loathing you describe when you woke up after makes it even more apparent that you do love Liam and you want things to work out with him."

"When did you find out he had signed and filed the divorce papers?"

"When we first sat down and he read the letter, he didn't want to sign the papers at all, then he brought up the fact that he didn't want the baby to have the Spencer name and I think that's why he signed the papers and filed them. I'm not entirely sure when they were filed, but you should probably place Forrester as Little One´s last name."

"That's the plan!"

"Good!" The voice causes them to turn their heads towards the door. But once he sees who's at the door, Thomas turns his gaze back to Steffy and what he sees makes him certain that Liam made the right choice to stay with Steffy.

Liam walks over to the bed and sits down next to Steffy. "I forgive you for everything as long as you'll do the same for me!"

"No, I need you to forgive me because you feel like you need to forgive me in your heart. I want absolute unconditional love and forgiveness and I refuse to live any other way. If you can't do that, we'll co parent. You need to change the same way that I have because I refuse to be your second choice now or in the future. One more time and I'm gone! Do you understand me?"

Both Liam and Thomas are taken by surprise at Steffy´s words. Thomas clears his throat and Liam looks over at him. "Looks like you have some work to do!"

Liam just nods his head. "Look, I know I screwed up and I shouldn't be pushing for this, but if I can't get what I need from you, then I see no reason to continue this relationship. I need you to give me what you promised me when I first came back to LA, remember what I said during that argument we had after you married Ivy?" Steffy looks him straight into the eyes.

"Yes!" Liam finally figures out the reason for her reaction.

"How much of what I said actually registered in your head back then? I was your wife, but still you chose to champion another woman, even though you had promised me that you'd never do it again!"

Liam can't seem to keep his head in one place to look at her and just nods his head.

During the last part of their conversation, Thomas sneaks out of the room and goes down stairs.

Caroline, Ridge, Taylor and Wyatt are sitting by the table.

"You know what?" Everyone turns their attention towards Thomas. "Liam screwed up way worse than he ever thought by doing what he did with Sally. I understand Steffy way more now than I did before."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, remember when he married Ivy to keep her from being deported?" Thomas directs the question to Wyatt.

"Yeah?"

"Apparently they had an argument and Liam broke so many promises he made to Steffy during that argument that I'm not sure he actually deserves Steffy or their marriage. I would include the baby, but the baby really deserves to have its father there."

"But still, he needs to forgive her for what she did." Wyatt interjects.

"I agree, but he needs to work on himself even more. He needs to understand the state of mind she was in that night and I don't think he realized just how badly he had hurt her by doing what he did. He has been acting very selfish in their relationship and now he needs to actually put equal amount of work into it for her to even consider a relationship with him. He needs to understand that the work you put into the relationship should equal that of your partners, and his portion of the work in their relationship has always been significantly smaller." Taylor says, while Thomas nods.

"Their relationship has always been one where he puts in so much work to get her, but then he stops when he has her, at least the last few times they've gotten back together, while she puts in work all throughout their relationship and him spending that much time and money on Sally really screwed everything up. I really truly believe that she was done with the relationship that night, because hearing that your husband was trying to make it right for a woman that had stolen from your company, harassed you for attention and then it leads to them almost dying and while lying in the rubble, she decides to kiss him and he spares no thought for the woman he's supposedly madly in love with? Liam messed up and Steffy felt the worst she's ever felt, so she reacted in a bad way."

Everyone nods their head to this, although Ridge still doesn't know what Steffy did.

~Floating memories~

 _Three weeks later  
LA_

 _Forrester Creations_

"Oh, thank goodness you're back!" Quinn is sitting on the other side of the CEO´s desk and flips her head up when someone walks through the door only to see Ridge walk through it.

Ridge greets her with a smile. "Thank you for taking such good care of the company while we were gone and thank you for accepting the role as Co-CEO after Steffy stepped down!"

"My pleasure! How is your daughter?"

"Steffy, Taylor, Liam and Thomas will be coming to LA within the next few days, Taylor has decided that LA is the place she's supposed to be in for the next few years what with her two grandkids living here."

"Two grandkids? I thought Douglas was her only one?"

"Ah, yes, you don't know about that do you?" Ridge scratches his head. "Steffy is currently almost nine months pregnant, 37 weeks to be exact, she's coming back from Paris to have her baby and resume her life with Liam."

"So, have you found out the reason why she ended up in Paris in the first place?" Quinn tries to find out how much Ridge knows before letting him know that she knows more than he does.

"No, everyone supposedly thought it would only cause more damage than needed to let me know, so I doubt I'd ever find out. Only thing I know is that it has to do with that business trip she took to Europe and that it was bad."

As Ridge tells her what he knows, she decides that letting him know anything more probably would cause more damage than any of them wanted to inflict on the family.

"Oh, okay! Congratulations on the grandchild! Do they know if they're having a boy or girl?"

"I don't think they do, they asked the contractors working on their house to paint the nursery and the OB sent them an email where she told them what they were having, but I don't think the two of them know yet. They have almost decided on a name though. They know for sure that the baby will be called Kelly, but they're unsure about the name the baby will actually be called by. Phoebe Kelly Forrester or Cooper Kelly Forrester. We'll just have to wait and see!" Ridge smiles with pride.

"Well then, let's hope it's a girl!"

"I'm hoping for a healthy baby. When the boys got to Paris, Steffy had lost weight as the baby had gained so she was clearly underweight, I don't know how I could've missed that, but when Caroline, Douglas and I left, she had gained weight back and she looked healthy."

"Well, that's good! So, do you want to get back to business?"

Ridge says yes and they get back to working on the numbers for this quarters budget.

~Floating memories~

 _Two weeks later_

 _Milan_

 _Hope Logan´s flat_

The phone rings and Hope throws herself down on the couch as she answers. "Hello! Hope speaking!"

"Hello my darling! How are you doing?" Brooke says through the phone.

"Oh, hi mom! I'm doing good! How are you doing? How´s the wedding planning going?"

"Oh, it's going forward, should take place within the next few months, I was actually calling to ask you if you'd want to visit sometime soon?"

"Yeah, I was actually thinking about coming to visit next week, see some family and have a quick visit with Liam since he's divorced now!"

"Yeah, about that, he might be divorced, but it seems he's completely committed to and in love with Steffy, I don't think you have anything to find there."

"What are you talking about? He divorced her because she betrayed him in the worst possible way and he's still committed to her and in love with her? How is that even possible?"

"Apparently their love is much bigger then the two of us thought!"

"Yeah, it's so big that she slept with his father in the Forrester guest house." Hope puffs.

"Tell me Hope, how many times during the time that Steffy has been in love with Liam has she cheated on him?"

Brooke waits for Hope to think about it.

"Well, have you found any other time then last November?"

"No, but there has to be one." Hope struggles to find one. "There's no way Steffy has been that faithful to Liam based on her history."

"Yeah, you know, I've thought about that actually, I don't know why, but I did. The only time I can remember Steffy being the one to cheat in a relationship was when she was together with Marcus and she and Rick kissed, other than that, Steffy has never cheated on her partner since. Until last November."

"No, I'm sorry mom, but you're wrong! You have to be!"

"Well, let me know when you remember one more time that Steffy has cheated on Liam or any of her other boyfriends." Brooke sighs. "Anyway, so, you said you'd come to the states and visit next week?"

"Yeah, I am!"

"Don't let the plans to go see Liam crashing down put a damper on your visit with family! We'd love to see you!"

"Oh, I'm coming for a visit and I am visiting Liam because I need to see it for myself before I believe it."

"Trust me sweetie, he is totally committed to Steffy and their baby."

"Their baby?" Tears start forming in Hope´s eyes.

"Oh yes, Steffy is about a week or so from her due date, should be having the baby any day now."

"So, she's put her hooks in him real good then? Or do we even know it's his baby? I mean, it could be his father´s right?"

"No, all the measurements have dated the baby´s conception to before Steffy slept with Bill, so there's no way Bill is the father of Steffy´s baby. Oh, by the way, Ridge still doesn't know about this and the family has decided that he doesn't need to know so if you could keep this to yourself, we'd appreciate it!"

"Oh, okay." The smile present on Hope´s lips look nothing like she agrees with Ridge not needing to know about Steffy sleeping with Bill. "I'll see you next week!"

"Have a good trip honey and we'll see you next week!"

They hang up and Hope looks around for her computer, finds it and opens it up and searches for anything she could use against Steffy. But the only things she finds are her Instagram where there hadn't been any posts since November and an article on Steffy and Liam´s wedding in Australia. Feeling frustrated, she closes her computer and dumps it on the couch, then she goes into her bedroom and starts packing her luggage.

"Maybe it's time I go back to LA, Liam is bound to remember that he loves me if I'm there and he'll realize that I'm a much better match for him then Steffy is." Hope´s smile increases in size. "Maybe I can ask Ridge to give Hope for the Future another try."

When she's done packing, she goes to the kitchen and makes herself some dinner.

On the other side of the Atlantic and across the US, Brooke hang up the phone before looking over at her fiancé. "We might have a problem coming our way."

Thorne looks over at her. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think Hope is ready to let go of Liam."

"So, you're saying that Hope might try to make a play for Liam when she visits?"

"Yeah and I think she's in for a rude awakening."

"Looking at the way Steffy and Liam behave towards each other after they came back from Paris pretty much solidifies them as a couple. But you can't do anything more then you've already did just now, you told her what the situation is, can't do anything more than that."

"Maybe I should warn Liam that Hope´s coming by to visit with the intention of picking up where they left off?"

Thorne sighs. "No, I think you should let Hope discover this on her own and warning Liam won't be good. He needs to shut it down on his own accord."

"Yeah, you're right." Brooke leans back on the couch and looks intently towards her fiancé for a few minutes before walking to the kitchen to start on lunch.

~Floating memories~

 _One week later_

 _Forrester Creations_

 _CEO´s office._

Hope is standing on the other side of the door to the CEO´s office and is about to knock on it when the door opens as Ridge is rushing out. He instantly comes to a stop as he sees who's standing outside the door.

"Oh, hi Hope! I'm sorry I can't see you now because I need to get to the hospital, Steffy is having the baby!"

"Oh, I'll come with you!" Hope hurries after Ridge as he leaves her behind when he's finished his sentence.

The car ride to the hospital is silent. Hope is staring out through the window letting small tears flow down her face, but Ridge is too focused on the road to notice.

He parks the car in the hospitals parking lot and then heads off to the labor and delivery unit. He meets up with his former wife as she's the one who's taken Steffy to the hospital.

"Hi Taylor! What happened?"

"We were talking and then she went to pick something up in the fridge and as she bent down, her water broke so here we are!"

"Has Liam come yet?"

Hope perks up and the mention of Liam and him not being there just yet.

"Wyatt and him were in a meeting when I called him, but he should be here within the hour!"

"Shouldn't he be here though? I mean it is his kid she's having?" Hope interjects.

"He probably should, but Steffy knows that this meeting was really important and that he needs to be there as it would be a big account for the company if they get it!"

Ridge nods his head and seeing neither of the other two react much, Hope let's it go.

Exactly forty-five minutes later, Thomas, Liam and Wyatt walk through the doors and as Hope sees the worry on Liam´s face, she feels her determination to make him hers grow even stronger. The three men walk straight by her though as if they didn't even see her and right up to Ridge.

"Hi dad!" Thomas greets his father.

"Hi Mr. Forrester!" Wyatt greets Ridge.

"Hi Ridge!" Liam greets his former father in law. "What room is she in?"

"Hi everyone! She's in room 203!" Ridge says and Liam is off while Ridge focus on Wyatt instead. "So, how did the meeting go?"

"They're currently thinking about which firm to choose, but I think we have a pretty good chance!"

"That's good! I hope you get it!"

Wyatt nods his head and thanks Ridge for the support and then walks over to where Thomas had sat himself down in the waiting area. This is when he notices Hope being there as well.

"Oh no!" He gently whispers to Thomas. As Hope had seen him notice her, she also saw him expressing his worry to Thomas. Thomas looks around the waiting room and sees Hope as well, he puts his stone-cold face on letting Hope know what kinds of trouble she could place herself in if something happened that could hurt his sister.

Hope just raises her eyebrows and turns her attention elsewhere.

Fifteen minutes later, Taylor comes walking from the corridor with a big smile on her face.

"Steffy is currently ready to start pushing. She must have been having contractions for hours before her water broke. I'm so proud of her and Liam is such a good birthing partner. He's going to be such a good father to their child!"

All three men in the waiting room start smiling really big.

"Yeah, like that's his baby?" Hope scoffs.

Wyatt being the closest to her turns his head over her way and glares at her with such malice in his eyes Hope is almost taken back.

Ridge instantly looks over at Hope. "Why would it not be Liam´s baby?"

Then he looks over at everyone else. "Let it go, Dad! You do not want to know!"

"So, everyone knows but me?"

Wyatt walks over to Hope, grabs a hold of her arm and drags her away from the waiting room. "What are you doing?"

"You really need to leave right now, I do not see any reason for you to be here at all!" He picks out his phone and calls a number.

He pulls her out to the parking lot as he's talking to the person on the other end and then he hangs up, glares at Hope and points to a bench for her to sit down on. He stays standing and waiting for something to happen.

Back at the waiting room, Ridge is working himself up because no one will let him know what made Hope say what she did. "Tell me right now!"

"Trust me dad, you think you want to know, but trust me, you really don't!"

"Tell me!" He says getting even more frustrated. "Why would Hope ask if it's even Liam´s baby?"

Taylor walks over, places her hands on his cheeks. "Do you trust me?" She sees him nod his head. "Then let it go! Steffy has expressed that she does not want you to know for reasons only she knows and you should trust that your daughter knows what's best for you in this situation."

"But the whole family knows, everyone knows but me!"

"I know and it's probably not fair, but Steffy does have her reasons and you should trust in them!"

As they're talking, Eric and Quinn come through the doors. Both adults look around the scene in front of them. "Where's Wyatt?"

"He's escorting Hope out of the building." Thomas says with such conviction that both Quinn and Eric know that something has happened and that it probably has something to do with that night in November.

Taylor focuses back on Ridge. "Trust in Steffy´s reasons!"

Ridge starts taking deeper breaths and nods his head. "Okay. Okay."

Taylor´s words and Ridge´s actions tell Quinn and Eric that Ridge still doesn't know about Bill and Steffy.

Down by the entrance, Brooke pulls up to see her daughter being guarded by her former husband. She parks the car and walks over to her daughter. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

"She scoffed and asked if it really was Liam´s baby." Wyatt glares at his former wife. "You might want to take her home with you and have a little talk about what she can and can't talk about while she's here in LA."

Wyatt looks over at his former mother in law. Brooke just nods before walking to the car again expecting Hope to follow her. Wyatt watches Hope get in the car and sees it roll into the distance.

"I thought I told you that Ridge does not know about Steffy sleeping with Bill in November and the fact that the baby was conceived in October. Do not talk about anything like that!"

Hope curls up in the seat trying to make herself as small as possible.

~Floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **That's chapter five, a lot of Steffy mentions at the end, but there's more Steffy coming in the next chapter so just hang in there with me!**

 **Let me know what you think! How do you feel about Brooke´s behaviour? I know it's totally out of character from what we've been seeing on the show, but everyone else is also a little out of character.**

 **But, I have a question. Should Ridge find out what happened in November and who should spill the beans?**

 **Next chapter should reveal whether Steam´s baby is a Phoebe or a Cooper, quite honestly I don't think I've decided yet. I mean, obviously Kelly is a girl, but I don't think my baby and the show´s baby is the same baby.**

 **Also, are you mad at me that I didn't write anything about the move back to the states for Steffy and Taylor?**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN:**

 **I do not own a thing except the computer this is written on!**

 **It's been a while since I wrote anything for any of my stories, there's been some things that took up almost all of my time with finals and other stuff, but it's calmed down now and I should be able to write some over the next few months. Hopefully I will have been able to post some more chapters of my stories before the beginning of summer. I have 17 days at the beginning of summer to write before I need to get to work for my summer job.**

Floating memories

 **Chapter six**

 _Brooke Logan´s house_

Brooke walks through the door of her house and throws the keys down on the table by the door before walking up to her fiancé and giving him a kiss and then turns around to watch her daughter sulk as she walks through the door.

"What happened?" Thorne looks between his wife to be and his stepdaughter to be.

Brooke turns her head back towards Thorne and then back to her daughter. "Wyatt claimed that she said something about that thing that she's not supposed to be talking about." She places her hands on her hips with an expression on her face that tells Hope her mother expects her to say what she said herself.

"I just asked how they can be sure that baby is Liam´s at all. I mean, it's not like Steffy´s never cheated on her boyfriends before!" Hope throws her hands up in frustration.

"Oh, so you've remembered one more boyfriend that Steffy has cheated on other than Marcus then?" Brooke lifts her eyebrows. "I'm not going to count her marriage to Wyatt because she had clearly left him before getting back with Liam."

Hope just glares at her mother, who just nods her head. "That's what I thought. So, tell me, what made you say what you said?"

"Thomas, Wyatt and Liam came walking through the hallway towards the waiting room and neither of them saw me, neither of them even made a motion to let me know they knew I was there until Wyatt saw me and turned to Thomas and said 'Oh no!', the two of them started acting like I wasn't even supposed to be there and then Taylor came out gushing over how Steffy was going to start pushing and that Liam was going to be such a great father to their baby, I scoffed and asked how they could even know that baby is Liam´s. I thought it was a valid question. Then Ridge gets upset and Wyatt grabs my arm and pulls me outside making a call. Mom shows up and she clearly isn't happy. I just don't understand. Liam finds out his wife cheated on him with his father and he just forgives her. Who does that?"

Brooke and Thorne look at each other before giving a huge sigh. "Your sister forgave." Thorne caresses Brooke´s arm as he's talking.

Hope whips her head towards her future stepfather. "What do you mean?"

"Bridget forgave an affair between her husband and her mother. It went on for months, Steffy and Bill was a one-night stand that happened when Steffy was in emotional turmoil and under extra stress because her hormones were in shambles because of the pregnancy." Thorne looks to Brooke to get permission to say the next bit and she gives it. "The only reason you and Bridget even have a relationship right now is because of her forgiving her mother for what she did. Your mother ended up pregnant with her daughter´s husband´s child and Bridget delivered you just a few days after she found out. Over a baby monitor of all things."

"But dad and Bridget aren't married now, so she didn't forgive her husband and Liam is in Bridget´s position." Hope argues.

"Yeah, that part might be true, but there's still a big difference between Deacon and I versus Bill and Steffy. Deacon and I wanted to be together and it lasted for months and I got pregnant. Steffy does not want a relationship with Bill, she hasn't since he dumped her years ago, the only reason they were even on that boat in December was because Bill blackmailed her into it and she had decided to put her marriage on the line and tell Liam when she got home. It didn't happen that way and Liam found out about all of it through a letter that Steffy sent him along with divorce papers. But it all worked out the way it was supposed to because Liam got to process it all on his own with his brother and brother in law to help him work through it. He filed the divorce papers and now they're working their way back. He even bought a house for them to live in while they work on their relationship." Brooke can see the doubt in Hope´s eyes. "Liam has totally cut Bill out of his life and Wyatt has done the same, I can't remember the last time any of us has even talked to Bill other then Katie because of Will."

"But she cheated on him with his father." Hope whines. "There's no way he could forgive that. No way!"

"Well, he's found his way to forgiveness and now they're working on getting the trust that he broke back." Thorne´s statement causes confusion in Hope.

"What do you mean getting the trust he broke back? She's the one who cheated. She's the one who broke their relationship."

Brooke looks over at her fiancé. "No, actually, what Steffy did by cheating on Liam was a reaction to him breaking all of the promises he made to her when she first came back to LA two years ago. Steffy made a bad decision giving into Bill like she did, but she wasn't in the best place at the time. So, please, stop trying to cause problems in the family because that's all you're doing with your comments and your beliefs."

"Really, I'm the one causing problems in the family?" Hope is shocked.

"Yes!" Brooke says with conviction. "Everyone is in agreement that what Steffy did is not to be spoken of in front of Ridge because what he might do to Bill could possibly end up deadly and we really do not want that. So, let go of what ever it is that you have planned because Liam won't leave Steffy for you, not after everything they've been through and now that they have a child, I'd prefer that you didn't even try."

"But we never even had our chance!"

Brooke just smiles at her daughter. "Yeah, you did, you just screwed it up when you married his brother."

"Steffy married Wyatt as well, why does she have another chance with Liam after that and more importantly, why does she get to have Liam after cheating on him with his father?"

"You really didn't hear what we said did you? Do you remember where Liam was when Steffy married Wyatt? Do you really think that Steffy would have married Wyatt had she known that Liam had amnesia and were kept away from her only for Wyatt to get his chance to be with her? Steffy waited for Liam to come back to her, then she made that call and he told her all those things and she just decided that enough was enough and then she found out that he had been kidnapped and held captive." Brooke sighs. "Their love is what has kept them from falling apart completely and that love is so much deeper then what you had with Liam. So, leave them be and just move on."

"I never thought I would hear you say that or defend Steffy the way you just did, mom. I can't believe what your saying. I just can't."

"Well then, you go and talk to Liam about it, he'll just shut you down and you'll just hurt even more. Listen to me when I tell you this. You and Liam will never be a couple again and I say this because I have seen the love that he shares with Steffy and it's deep. What you had with him doesn't even compare and I'm sorry that I acted the way I did before, I never should have fought for you and Liam the way I did." Brooke sighs as her eyes connects with Thorne´s. "Taylor was right about everything she said to both of us when it comes to Steffy, Liam and their love. They might have started out in a less then ideal way, but where they are, they always would've ended up at either way."

Hope searches her mother´s eyes for the sign that she's lying that she knows just have to be there, but she doesn't find it, so, she sighs in frustration and just stomps her way to her room.

~Floating memories~

 _Back at the hospital_

 _Steffy´s delivery room._

Their child´s first cries rang out through the room and Steffy looks up with a smile on her face. Small tears trickle down her cheeks as she looks at the wonder that is their baby.

The doctor looks up from delivering the placenta. "So, do you have any name picked out for that little sweetheart? Or is he going to be forever called Baby Boy Forrester?"

"It's a boy?" Steffy says with surprise in her voice as the doctor nods. "I've always had this feeling that it was a girl."

Liam grabs her hand before looking back at the doctor. "I believe Cooper Kelly Forrester was the last name we settled on."

The two new parents look on as a nurse brings over their son and place him in Steffy´s arms, they look at him closely. "But does he look like a Cooper though?" Steffy looks up at Liam with a frown on her face.

Liam sighs. "No, he doesn't. He doesn't look like a Kelly either."

"I guess Baby Boy Forrester it is for the time being." The doctor laughs a little. "Maybe he should be named after his grandfathers or great grandfathers?"

"Well, my dad and grandfather are out of the question. That leaves your dad and your grandfathers."

"Okay, so Eric, Jack, Massimo and Ridge are the options?" Steffy brings down the blanket a little to look at her son again. "Massimo Jack or Massimo Ridge?" She looks up into Liam´s eyes.

"Massimo Ridge flows better, but we've got two Ridge´s already, do we really need a third one right now or should we let RJ have that name?"

"Do you think Granddad will be disappointed that we didn't name our son after him?" Steffy lets her hand caress the little boy´s forehead.

"If your granddad knows why you named your son after the two men that you did, I don't think he'll be mad. If he loves you, he'll be happy with the name you chose for your baby. Now, what will it be? I asking because we need to put the name on the birth certificate." The doctor smiled.

"Massimo Jack Forrester." Steffy beams at the doctor before looking back up at Liam. "You want to go and introduce him to his grandparents and uncles?"

Liam´s face breaks into a big smile before taking the baby from his mother, adjusting him so that he's comfortable and then he walks out into the corridor.

He reaches the waiting room and the first person who notice them is Thomas. "It's a boy?"

That simple yes or no question causes Wyatt, Taylor and Ridge to turn their heads towards the entrance of the waiting room. Liam just stands there with a stupid grin on his face before he says.

"Meet Massimo Jack Forrester."

Thomas walk up to meet the little baby boy. "Massimo Jack. What happened to Cooper Kelly?"

"Well, look at him." Liam lifts the blanket away from the little boy´s face. "Does that face really look like a Cooper or Kelly to you?" Liam chuckles a little.

Thomas laughs out loud. "Yeah, no, that's no Cooper nor Kelly."

"Steffy was worried Eric might be sad that we didn't name our baby after him, the doctor reassured her that she shouldn't worry, but there's this nagging feeling in both of us that he might not be happy. What are your thoughts on that?" Liam scratches the back of his head.

Taylor walks over to him and places a reassuring hand on his left shoulder. "There's no need for you to worry about that. Eric and I talked about that very possibility a week or so ago and he said that what ever name you choose for your baby is going to be the perfect one for that child. You just tell Steffy that there's no need to worry." She places a hand on the little boy in his arms. "You little boy better grow up to be the best man you can be!" She says with a smile on her lips.

Wyatt comes up to his brother and takes a good hard look at the little boy that's sleeping in his brother´s arms. "Massimo Jack. Where do those names come from? I mean, I know Jack is Steffy´s maternal grandfather, but who's Massimo?"

Thomas, Ridge and Taylor look at each other, Ridge takes a deep breath. "My biological father´s name is Massimo Marone."

It's almost as if a light switch dings in Wyatt's eyes. "Oh, so that's where Rick´s 'Marone-bastard' comes from?"

The other adults in the room chuckles. "Yeah, I thought you knew that already?"

"It sounds somewhat familiar, but I don't remember where I've heard it before." Wyatt nods his head before going back to the place he vacated to meet his nephew.

As soon as Wyatt walks away, Ridge goes to meet his grandson. He takes one look at the little boy and tears start filling up his eyes. He turns towards his son. "Now, I know you gave me my first grandchild, but there's something special with your daughter´s first child."

"Oh, trust me, dad, I know what you're talking about."

While Thomas and Ridge are talking, more family joins the waiting room in the form of Brooke, Thorne, Quinn and Eric.

"Well, I heard there was something special going on in this waiting room." Eric´s voice booms out into the room causing everyone to start laughing. Well, everyone except Liam and the little boy in his arms.

Quinn grabs a hold of her husband´s hand. "So, did it turn out to be Cooper Kelly or Phoebe Kelly?"

Wyatt starts laughing, causing Quinn to look at her son with confusion on her face. This is the moment Liam chooses to turn around with a big smile on his face.

"This is my son, Massimo Jack Forrester."

"That is such a beautiful name!" Eric beams. "Now, where is my granddaughter?"

"She's in room 203, but they should be moving her shortly." Liam smiles towards the older man who takes off towards Steffy´s room.

Wyatt takes a glance at his former mother in law, she catches him looking at her and she shakes her head as if to tell him that it didn't go well with Hope. He in response nods his head, then look towards his brother and when he looks back at Brooke, she nods her head. So, he taps his wrist watch to indicate he'll talk to Liam later. Brooke nods her head at this.

Thorne notice the exchange between his fiancé and her former son in law and based on the conversation they had with Hope, he agrees with their decision to tell Liam that Hope has returned to Los Angeles with the intent to start over with him.

Back in the delivery room, Steffy has relaxed enough to start to slumber when there's a knock on her door, that startles her awake again. "Come in!"

When Eric walks through the door with Quinn following him, he does so with a big smile on his face. "Well, I must say you've done a really good job there, little girl!" He stands at the foot of the bed, his smile never faltering.

Quinn on the other hand walks over to the side of her bed and sit down on it. "I must say, you make really cute babies in your family!"

Steffy shifts her attention from her grandfather´s smile towards her step grandmother. "We do, don't we?"

"You do. That little boy out there is gorgeous!" Quinn smile at Steffy´s pride at the mention of her son.

"And that name really does suit him very well if I might add my two cents to that." Eric smiles even bigger.

Small tears start forming in Steffy´s eyes as she looks towards her grandfather. "Are you sure? You're not sad that we didn't name him after you?"

Eric scoffs. "Oh please, like I don't have enough kids that can give me a grandchild or great grandchild that will be named Eric or something similar?"

Steffy nods her head. "That is true!"

Eric walks down to sit on the side of the bed and grabs Steffy´s hand. "You were really worried about me being sad about your son´s name, weren't you?"

Steffy takes a big breath in before letting the tears fall in relief and sighing as she nods her head.

"Well, you know, I understand perfectly well why you wouldn't want to name your child after me, considering what my name sake did to you, really, I wouldn't name my child after a ex that's used me like that."

Steffy nods her head. "Well, I placed myself in that position in the first place."

"Well, had Brooke done what her fiancé wanted her to do, there never would have been a relationship between my son and Phoebe at all, meaning no reason for Phoebe to be upset and she'd never been in that car." Eric says with a sigh.

"What do you mean? When did Phoebe and Rick date?" Quinn looks confused.

Steffy looks over at her grandfather. "That would be five women, four engagements and two marriages ago, right? Or are there more? Women that is."

"No, I think that's it. If there's been more then I don't know about them."

"Just after we turned 18, I believe it was love at first for both of them, but then Rick saw how their relationship affected my father and after that it became more of a competition for Rick then a relationship. Then his affair with Ashley came out and Phoebe ended it. Rick wasn't on board that train. Then some things happened between mom and Nick and Rick set his sights on mom to clear the way for his mother to mom´s husband. Mom resisted in respect for Phoebe and wanted to talk to Phoebe about it. Phoebe wasn't happy, but she gave them her blessing, only to find out that mom ended it with Rick and Rick´s reasons for being with our mother. When she came back from tour, I told her what Rick had done by kissing me and Phoebe snapped. This led to her dying on the side of a road while mom was waiting at home for us to go out for ice cream. She died because some things happened that could have been avoided. In my grief I leaned on the one person who I believed knew what I felt the most." Steffy sighs.

"Rick…" Quinn sighs. "I take it Ridge didn't like that very much?"

"No, he didn't. Not at all."

"Well then, I guess I understand your reasoning for not wanting Ridge to know about November even more now." Quinn looks a little concerned.

"Yeah, it would've been ugly."

Out in the waiting room, Caroline had joined them with Douglas, who had instantly been taken by his cousin. Katie had also joined them after she heard that her son´s nephew had been born and she had taken Will with her. Will had also been in awe over his nephew.

What neither of them know is that Hope has made her way back to the hospital and what she sees as her aunt gushes over the baby along with her mother makes her angry.

"Well, I need to go back to my fiancé, Massimo is about to fall asleep and he has to eat before he can sleep." The smile on Liam´s face as he mentions his fiancé is like a punch to her stomach.

"You asked her to marry you again?" Taylor says with a smile on her face.

"No, not yet, but I really do want to marry her again. I mean, my three previous times should prove that don't you think?"

"Well, what about all of your attempts to marry my daughter? Shouldn't that prove something as well?" Brooke can feel her daughter´s presence and this is why she asks this.

Liam looks at her with skeptical eyes. "What that proves is that although we tried, it never worked out and the reason for that is that saying, 'If you love two people, choose the second one because if you really loved the first, the second one wouldn't have stood a chance'. Steffy is the one I want to be with, dragging Hope along for those attempts to get married shouldn't have happened. Steffy is the love of my life and she'll always be."

"You can't be serious!" Hope makes her presence known. "Seriously, she cheats on you with your father no less and you forgive her just like that?"

Every single person in the room turns to look to where Ridge once stood, only to find neither Ridge, Caroline nor Douglas still standing there.

"Hope! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Milan?" Liam looks at her like she's an old friend.

"Well, I thought I'd come back home for moms wedding and to see if you and I could try again. Especially since I heard you divorced Steffy because she cheated on you with your father." Hope spits out the last part.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but no, I didn't divorce Steffy because she cheated on me with my father." This sends shockwaves through Hope.

"What do you mean? What other reasons could there be?"

"I divorced Steffy because I didn't want our child to have the last name of Spencer. Steffy cheating on me with my father was a wake up-call for me that I need to put more effort into our relationship and see the effort she puts in and match it every inch." Liam cradles his son closer to his body. "Steffy is my past, present and future, nothing is going to change that. No matter how hard you try! Now, I need to go see the love of my life. Good bye!"

He then turns to everyone else and nods his head before walking away leaving Hope standing there in disbelief.

"How can he be so… so…." Hope shakes her head.

"So what?" Thomas questions. "Committed to his relationship? In love with his girlfriend? Indifferent to you?"

"She cheated on him with his father. How did he forgive that?" Hope just can't believe what she just saw.

"By realizing the reason behind her cheating on him." Wyatt says. "You just remember that he forgave you for running off and marrying me because he was five minutes late."

"Well, he really had no choice, did he? He married Steffy on the day we were supposed to be married."

"And why did he do that again?" Taylor interjects before Hope´s rant goes on too long. "What made it possible for him to marry someone else on the day you were supposed to be married?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that I caught him making out with Steffy the night before and I dumped him?" Hope glares at Taylor.

"Ah, yes. **You** dumped him and not only that, but you didn't even tell him why. So, he decided to move on. What about after Italy, how come you didn't sign the papers making that marriage legal?" Taylor tilts her head. "Oh, right, I know, because you found a video of Liam making out with Steffy. What about after Steffy lost her baby and you and Liam were getting married but it ended with you on a plane to Hawaii with Wyatt?"

Hope lowers her gaze at this comment.

"Right. Because you saw a hug between my daughter and your fiancé, but once again you decided that your relationship with Liam wasn't worth it. So, now, I want you to tell me why your relationship with Liam is only worth having when he's with my daughter! If you can't give me a reason, please leave and do not initiate any contact with my daughter." Taylor waits for two minutes and then walks away.

"Well, wasn't that an interesting conversation?" Wyatt turns to Thomas and gets confirmation.

Brooke pins her daughter down with her eyes. "Do you understand now?"

"No, I don't. How do you forgive your wife sleeping with your father?"

Wyatt chuckles. "He realized what led her down that path and decided to change to make himself a better man and he knew she's the only reason he'd ever want to be a better man."

Hearing Wyatt claim that Steffy is the only reason why Liam would want to change to make himself a better man brings tears to her eyes and it feels like someone took a spear and sent it right through her.

"Oh, by the way. If you were to have done the same thing, I do not think he would've forgiven you as easily." Thomas says.

"Why is that?" Hope says with anger back in her eyes as she glares at Thomas.

"Because, you have a history of cheating on him to punish him, Steffy doesn't." Thomas tilts his head. "Now, I believe you've been removed from the premises once already today. So, how about you leave and like my mother said, do not contact Steffy ever. I would add Liam, myself, my parents, Caroline and my son as well."

"I'd like to include myself in that group." Wyatt surprises everyone when he includes himself in the noncontact-group. "You just stay clear of anyone named Keinn."

Hope turns to her mother to make her say something. But Brooke just shakes her head before turning to her fiancé. Brooke felt like if Hope didn't understand now, she wasn't going to try and spare her the disappointment and pain she knows is coming.

When Katie walks over to Wyatt and cuddles into him making no effort to make it known that she disagrees with Wyatt´s stance on Hope making contact with him, realization flows through Hope.

"So, what you're saying is that all of you supports the relationship between Steffy and Liam even though she cheated on him with his father?"

A resounding yes is heard through out the waiting room. "I can't believe it. Even my own family thinks he should be with a woman who slept with his father over their own family member."

"Yes!" Katie says with conviction. "Liam has spent their entire relationship catering to other women, you included, and he managed to break them to the point where Steffy wondered if they were really worth it. Since she disappeared in December, Liam has been working on himself to be the man Steffy deserves, maybe he'll show you the list he made over the things he'd done that affected their relationship versus the ones she'd done."

"Oh, I have that one with me." Thomas says while taking his phone out. "Do you want to see it?" He raises his eyebrows at Hope.

"Yes." Hope snatches the phone from Thomas and reads the long list Liam has and the very short list that Steffy has. "Really? Liam´s side is filled to the brim and Steffy´s only has two things? You're lying to me, there's no way Steffy´s side is that short."

"Well, that's Liam´s handwriting isn't it? Do you see the coffee stains?" Katie injected. "Liam is the reason the trust between them was broken and he knows that, so he chose to make himself a better man then he was before and work on their relationship."

Katie looks over at Thomas, who nods his head and Katie sighs. "How about you come with me!"

Katie grabs Hope´s hand and leads her to the door into Steffy´s room. "Look inside."

What Hope sees is Caroline, who´s holding Douglas, Ridge and Taylor standing by the foot of the bed, Eric sitting on a mattress in a knock by the window with Quinn sitting on his lap and Liam lying on the bed with his left arm around Steffy´s shoulders while she feeds the baby kiss Steffy´s forehead before taking this little jewelry box out of his pocket. Hope watches Steffy open the box with her right hand and as Steffy´s joy spreads like wildfire, Hope´s despair multiplies.

"He really asked her to marry him?"

Katie leaned so that she could see through the window as well. "It would appear so yes and I'm happy for them."

 _A little while earlier._

Just before Liam said, _"Well, I need to go back to my fiancé, Massimo is about to fall asleep and he has to eat before he can sleep."_ Caroline looks down the hallway and sees a head of blonde hair hide itself behind the small bit of wall where the doors into the waiting room is located and she takes her son out of his father´s arms before Ridge´s arm and pulling him towards his daughter´s hospital room and hears Hope´s voice in the distance just as she closes the door.

Ten minutes after that, Liam walks through the door fuming with his son tightly held against his chest and Caroline knew she made the right choice and when Liam looks at her with such gratitude in his eyes, that just solidifies that it was the right choice. Some minutes after that, Taylor walks through the door practically with smoke coming from her ears and as she notices Caroline, she gives her the same look as Liam did.

Five minutes later, Caroline watches her cousin kiss Steffy on the forehead before taking a small box out of his pocket. Steffy opens the box and instantly says yes.

"I haven't even asked you yet."

Steffy just smiles. "Oh, but you have. A few times over. At least once every night since we came back to LA. You really need to stop whispering so loudly and please, if you want our son to keep your secrets for you, make sure I am asleep when you ask him too!" She chuckles as she sees the confusion on his face.

"Or maybe he shouldn't be keeping secrets from you at all?" Quinn chuckles.

"Yeah, that might be the better option?"

Liam instantly looks guilty. "What?" Steffy asks.

Taylor reaches down to touch her daughter´s feet. "Hope´s back in town."

"Well, I can't blame her, her mother is about to get married." Steffy sees on everyone´s face that there's more to the story. "Well then, she's back for Liam as well I take it?"

Liam sighs. "Yeah, but hopefully she listened to me when I told her why I'm with you."

Steffy looks up towards the door just at the right time. "I don't think she did." Steffy then indicates towards the door and everyone in the room except the two young boys turn their heads around. The look on Hope´s face as she gets 'caught' is priceless.

"Well then. Trouble on the horizon I'm guessing." Steffy sighs.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Quinn says with certainty in her voice.

"Hope is always a reason to worry." Steffy says.

"Yeah, but I believe her family has it covered." Everyone turns towards the door again only to find Katie smiling big and giving Steffy a thumbs up through the window, causing Steffy to give a big smile as well.

~floating memories~

 _Two weeks later._

She walks through the door of Bill Spencer´s office with determination. The few times she's tried to speak to Liam about leaving Steffy behind hadn't worked out the way she wanted them to go. Now, she had only two options left. Go to the source of the hurt done to her or to the source that caused Liam so much hurt. She chose the later option, she really didn't want Liam to find out she was using so much effort to break him and Steffy up and what person better to break them up then Liam´s own father. She walks up to his desk and places her hands on it.

"So, what are you going to do to make sure Liam and Steffy do not get married again?"

The response she gets causes her to jump back. He laughs out loud. "Do you seriously think either of those two even remotely would ever speak to me again? You really need to give up. I've heard from a few little birdies that you've been trying to convince Liam to leave Steffy for you over the last two weeks. Hasn't been working out for you I take it?" He sees her shake her head. "Maybe you should just listen to your family and learn something from this."

Hope throws her hands up in frustration. "So, what you're saying is that the great $Bill Spencer is just giving up the fight for the so-called love of his life? I mean, isn't that what you've claimed before?"

"Maybe you should think about this. I'm not the love of my life´s love of her life and maybe, just maybe, you're not the love of your life´s love of his life, because from what I can tell, they are each other´s love of their lives. I could tell that Steffy didn't love me the way she used to when she ran out of the guest house that night, but I was so caught up in the fact that we had finally made love that I just thought there's no way she wouldn't want to be with me now. Then I found out she had renewed her vows and decided to punish her for it. I shouldn't have done that." Bill glares her down. "I lost two of my three sons over this madness, they've even shunned my last name. The price was too high this time, so I'm done with that. I've got Will left, I need to be a better father for him and hopefully he'll never know how much his old man destroyed his family. I suggest you just let it go and work on yourself to move on from this. You'll never be in a relationship with Liam ever again. Just accept that."

"And here I thought Bill Spencer would never give up on something he wanted." Hope spits it out in disbelief.

"Well…" Bill says with a smile. "I do have what I want. Steffy is happy, Liam is happy, Wyatt is happy, Will is happy, Caroline is happy and Katie is happy. Hopefully Brooke is also happy."

 _Some time later… Brooke Logan´s house._

Hope slams the door as she walks through it, Brooke just raises her eyebrows.

"Should've known he wouldn't help with this….." Hope mutters as she walks to the staircase.

"Who would help you with what?" Brooke uses her strict voice and as her daughter looks over, she can see exactly where her daughter has been. "I take it Bill didn't do what you wanted him to do?"

"I just don't understand. He just isn't even going to fight for her? She's supposedly the love of his life."

"Yeah, maybe so, but he's not the love of her life and no matter how hard he tries, he'll never be the love of her life. The love of her life proposed two weeks ago and they just had a baby. Let it go, move on and find someone better suited for you. Cause Liam isn't it."

"Well, I believe you're wrong about that, he and I will be together, no matter what. There's nothing anyone can do to stop that." Hope has determination in her eyes. "Nothing."

Hope then walks up the stairs. Brooke just looks up the stairs after her daughter before turning towards the kitchen where she knows Thorne was cooking up dinner. When he walks through the door, she knows he's heard what Hope said.

"Well then, I guess trouble really is heading our way." Thorne dries his hands off before walking over to his fiancé.

"It would seem so. She shouldn't have come home when she did. It's too soon after Steffy and Liam´s divorce was final."

"It's too soon for Hope finding out that Liam forgave Steffy for cheating on him. She doesn't realize that he had months to figure it out. I'm thinking she thinks that he just found out that Steffy cheated on him. She doesn't get that Liam had almost four months to wrap his head around it before he even saw Steffy again." Thorne sighs. "I think she needs to understand that Liam didn't just forgive Steffy when he first found out, it took him some time to wrap his head around it."

"Maybe Liam and Steffy need to leave LA for a little while?" Brooke scratches the top of her head in frustration.

"No, I think they need to be here when it finally clicks for Hope, she needs to see the love they share in order to understand." Thorne reaches out to Brooke and pulls her into his arms. "It'll be okay, as long as she doesn't do what I think she'll most likely want to do."

Brooke lets go and looks him closely into the eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I think since nothing she's done when it comes to Liam and Bill has worked, her next step will be to go to Steffy and ask that Steffy lets Liam go be with her or she'll tell Ridge." Brooke gasps in shock.

"You really think she'd do that?"

"You heard what she said, nothing is going to stop her from being with Liam, what's the one thing that standing in the way of that according to Hope?"

"Steffy´s supposed hooks in Liam." Brooke sighs. "You don't think she'd do anything to the baby do you?"

"Of course not." Thorne´s eyes tell a different story.

~floating memories~

 _Steffy and Liam´s new house_

 _The next day._

The last two weeks and a bit had been spent figuring out how to live with a new born baby and Liam had certainly adapted really well, not saying Steffy hadn't, but Liam had shown her that he had changed into a better man and was going to put more work into their relationship. They had sort of fallen into a routine of 'every other is yours', so if Liam took care of a dirty diaper, Steffy handled the next one and so on.

Right at this second, Steffy was lying on the couch with baby Massimo securely on her chest as Liam was putting laundry in the washing machine.

There's a knock on the front door, so Steffy lays the baby down in one of the arm chairs and goes to open it only to find Hope on the other side.

"Well, well, I was wondering how long it would take you to come over here to see me. So, are you here to see the baby?" Steffy smiles big.

"No, but I really hope Liam has done a paternity test on the kid, I mean, how can we otherwise be sure he's the baby´s father? It's not like he's the only man you slept with back then." Hope snarls.

"No, it's not, but let's not forget what led up to that moment. Well, you weren't here so you have no idea what led to it so, it's not like you have any insight in our relationship then or now." Steffy smiles.

"No, I don't and I have no idea how on earth Liam could 'forgive' you sleeping with his dad, but I can almost bet you he hasn't." Hope smirks. "I mean, it hasn't been that long since he found out. You don't get over something like that in such a short time."

Steffy tilts her head to her left and looks at Hope for a little bit. "How long ago do you think Liam found out about this?"

"What do you mean? It's been less then a month since he came back with you, so a little more then that I would say." Hope chuckles.

Steffy smiles. "Liam found out about his father and I in March, after that he spent a little over two months still in LA and got the divorce sped up, changed his name and moved us into this beautiful house. Liam´s known for far longer than you think he has. Also, it was determined when I was still in Monaco that I was a month further along than a baby conceived during my mistake with Bill would have been and in the time before Bill played on my emotions, Liam is the only man I slept with. So, there's no need for you to worry yourself about the paternity of Liam and I´s baby."

"I wonder what your father would say if he knew…" Hope smirks.

"Oh, I wonder what your mother, sister, father and brothers would do if they knew that you'd be willing to cause destruction in the family just because you don't believe that Liam could ever forgive me for reacting badly in an emotional state. Did you know that the whole family has decided that dad isn't to find out about it ever, how do you think they'd react when they find out that you told dad about it? How long do you think you'd have to work to get their trust back?"

Hope is taken back a little. "Well, how much time do you think you'd have to work to get your father´s trust back after he finds out you screwed his enemy in the Forrester guest house?"

"Well, less then it'll take the family to forgive you for going behind their backs. So, what are you most likely to do? Loose the family and Liam or keep the family but still not have Liam?" Steffy smiles. "You decide."

"Steffy!" Liam calls as he walks out into the living room.

"I'm at the door, your ex came by again!"

"Really? What could she possibly want? It's not like I haven't been saying to her that it's not going to happen." Liam turns the corner and Hope sees his eyes light up as they see Steffy.

Steffy smiles back at him. "Well, as it turns out, Hope just threatened to tell dad about me and your father so, I asked her what she'd rather do, loose the whole family or just walk away from you. I'm still waiting for her answer to that."

"Oh, well, I'd hope she doesn't want to lose her family. But that's up to her now isn't it? Anyway, I put the laundry in the washing machine and was going to start on making dinner, what do you want?"

"Pasta, any kind of pasta." She looks into his eyes and kisses him back when he leans down to kiss her.

Liam walks away and starts puttering about in the kitchen.

"So, if that's all you wanted? As you can see, we're pretty busy right now so I think it'll be best if you left."

"Do you seriously think that you can just walk away from me after all that you've done? You stole my fiancé from me."

Steffy just sighs. "When was Liam your fiancé last? Was it not when you went and married his brother years ago? How can you claim that I stole your fiancé when you had him back with you after he and I annulled our second marriage? You screwed up, it's time that you realize that and grow from your own mistakes."

Hope can feel the anger grow as Steffy is talking and all of a sudden, Steffy is lying on the floor holding her head and Hope pulls her arms closer to her body.

"Now, I really think it's time you leave, before I call the cops on you for stalking and trespassing."

"Right, like you'd have any chance at that."

Steffy slowly gets up, but she starts feeling faint. "Liam!"

"Oh, what are you gonna do? Tell on me?" Hope growls.

Liam comes walking from the kitchen. "Hope? I thought you would've left already."

"Liam!" Steffy says. "Can you please help me get to the couch before escorting Hope of the property?"

Liam picks her up bridal style and carries her to the couch before going back to the hallway to escort Hope off the property.

"So, out you go. It's time to leave." Liam opens the door and waves Hope out the door.

Hope doesn't agree with him. "You know you don't want to be here with her, why are you with her?"

Liam sighs. "It's time to leave my house. Now, go!" As he waits this time, he picks up his phone.

"Liam!" He hears Steffy calling for him. "Has she gone yet?"

"No, she's still here!" Liam can hear the worry on her voice.

"Can you call my mother so that she can come look after Massimo?"

"Of course, I can! Why?"

"Because I'm about to pass out and I probably need to go to the emergency room." Steffy starts talking with a shaky voice. "Maybe it's best if you just call an ambulance and then call mom to come to the hospital."

"Yeah, now you really need to leave. Right now, get out!" Liam actually grabs her arm and pulls her out through the door over to her car. "Leave now! My fiancé needs me!"

He watches her get in the car and leave the driveway, but what he doesn't see is her pulling up on the curb a block away and then waiting for them to leave. What she doesn't know is that Liam has called her mother and asked her that she come to the house and wait for them or her there.

She sees them leave, waits a little while longer and then she drives back. What she wasn't counting on is the extensive alarm system and the fact that you have to use a key and a thumbprint in order to get inside the house.

"Aaaaah, what am I going to do? D**n it."

"So, what exactly were you trying to do?" Brooke Logan scares her daughter out of her skin.

"What the heck, mom? Why are you here?"

"Well, a little birdie told me that you'd been by Liam and Steffy´s house today and apparently you wouldn't leave. So, they thought you would come back after they left. So, care to tell me why they had to leave?"

"Steffy was lying through her teeth, then she ended up on the floor, she touched her head and then called for Liam to take her to the couch and then to escort me of the property."

"So, you pushed her?" Brooke shakes her head at her daughter´s dismissal.

"Of course not, why would I?"

"Well, I don't understand how she would've ended up on the floor otherwise and from what Liam told me, my guess is that you're lying!" Brooke watches her daughter with clear disappointment on her face. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I needed to speak to Steffy about letting Liam go, she wouldn't hear my argument as to why and then she ended up on the floor."

"So, did you ask her what Ridge would think if he found out what happened in November?"

The expression on Hope´s face tells Brooke everything she needs to know. Brooke nods her head.

"I guess Thorne was right. Do you understand how much damage you could cause the entire family if you tell Ridge? Do you understand that the trust everyone in this family have in you will be gone? Do you understand that even Rick, your brother, agreed that Ridge is not to be told?"

"So, you'd rather have Liam with a woman who betrayed him in the worst possible way?" Hope watches her mother nod her head. "Over me? Your own daughter?"

"Yes, because that's where he wants to be. He wants to be here with Steffy because he loves her, not because he feels trapped with the baby being here, but because he loves Steffy and wants to be here."

Hope just shakes her head. "No, I don't believe you."

"Well then, there's nothing more I can do." She tries to bring as much courage to herself as she possibly can. Takes a deep breath and then delivers some news to her daughter she never thought she'd ever say. "Do you remember what happened in Aspen during Steffy and Liam´s first divorce?"

~floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **Oh no, a cliff hanger. What's going to happen next? To be honest, I don't quite know myself.**

 **What do you think should happen?**


	8. Chapter 7

**AN:**

 **So, chapter 7 of Floating memories coming today. I still do not own the show, or stuff would not be happening the way they are.**

 **As it is my birthday today, September 5** **th** **, I decided to post this chapter as a gift to myself. I have started writing chapter eight, but I don't have anymore written as it stands right now. I've started on my last semester for school and I will be pretty busy until January 10** **th** **and hopefully I'll start a new job on the thirteenth, so I don't know how much time I'll have after that. But I'll try to get these stories completed as soon as possible.**

 **Anyway, here we go!**

Floating memories

 **Chapter seven**

 _The emergency room_

Taylor Hamilton rushed through the doors of the emergency room and went right up to reception, asking for her daughter. Hearing the commotion, Liam looked out through the curtains keeping people from looking inside the examination cubicles.

"Hey Taylor! We're over here!" Taylor instantly comes over. The two then get everything ready for Taylor to bring Massimo back to her place for the time being.

"So, there is frozen milk in the freezer at home if you run out, I really don't know how she manages to feed our son with what he needs and still keep up a supply." Liam scratches his head.

"Well, her body hasn't quite worked out how much the baby needs to keep himself fed so it overproduces and because she pumps, the supply doesn't decrease to what he actually needs to be full." Taylor places her hand on Liam´s shoulder. "I'll see you later tonight when you come by to see him. I'll keep him over night so you can focus on Steffy."

Liam smiles at his once again future mother in law. "Thank you!" He then shifts his attention towards his son. "I love you little guy, be good for grandma!"

He then hands over his son and his car keys as he'd had to bring the car in order to get everything with him to the hospital. "Hey, how did you get here?"

Taylor smiles. "I took an uber. Well worth the money."

"Oh, well, I'll see you later."

Taylor nods her head. "Yeah, I'll see you later!" Taylor places little Massimo up against her shoulder and then grabs the diaper bag and leaves. Liam and her had talked on her way over there and she'd gotten the run down on what had happened.

Liam watches them leave and then he calls his brother. Wyatt is there less then twenty minutes later. Liam smiles when he watches him walk through the doors of the hospital. "You got here quick."

"Well, I was visiting a friend a little way´s down the road, took about fifteen minutes to walk here after I got my things in order."

Liam looks over his brother´s appearance. "Get your things in order? What's her name?"

Wyatt smiles. "Florence. We used to date in high school. We ran into each other a week ago or so. Let's just say we picked up where we left off after mom and I left town. She heard me out and understood why we left. It's just fun getting to know each other again."

"Oh, ehm, what happened with Katie? Weren't you living together?" Liam frowns.

"Yeah, so, we had a conversation where we discussed what was going to happen moving forward and we came to the conclusion that we seemed to be stalled at living together, we both knew that kids weren't in the cards for us together and Katie didn't want to be the one who stood in my way and I didn't want to be the one holding her back from finding happiness because our relationship wasn't going to move forward. We had fun while it lasted and I got to really know our brother, but we both knew it would never move past living together." Wyatt shares a sad smile that Liam reciprocates. "So, what's going on? What's wrong with Steffy?" Concern all over Wyatt´s face. "What happened?"

Liam sighs. "Hope came over, there was a discussion and apparently Hope didn't like what we had to say so Steffy ended up with a gash at the back of her head and I heard Hope ask Steffy if she was going to tell on Hope, so I had a pretty good idea what happened. Then when I try to escort Hope off the property, Steffy asks that I call her mother so she could take care of Massimo when we go to the hospital because she was about to pass out. When we got here the doctors took a look at her chart, noticed the accident in Cabo as well as some other things and took her straight up to get some scans. Worst case it's a brain bleed, what we're hoping for is a concussion."

Just as Liam finishes updating Wyatt, some orderlies return with Steffy. Liam looks at the man manoeuvring the bed his fiancé is laying on. "How did it go?"

"Everything went the way it's supposed to, she stayed awake the whole time even though you can see that she's so tired."

"Good, when will we know the results?"

"They're going over them right now, shouldn't be much longer." The man places the bed almost exactly where it was when he came to get her and then both of them leave. Liam then turns to Steffy.

He walks over to her and picks her hand up. "Steffy?" He whispers because he can see the tell-tale signs of a head ache on her face. She struggles to focus on him. "You don't need to focus on me honey, you just fight through it."

Steffy gives a weak smile. "They won't give me anything for the head ache."

"No, I know, they're trying to figure some things out and if it's one of the things they're thinking of, anything given to you in terms of reducing the head ache might actually make it worse." Liam caresses her face. "You just take it easy."

He can see when Steffy loses focus on him and puts it back on the pain, so he turns to his brother.

"I hate seeing her like this." A few tears fall down his cheek.

"I do too, dude. I do too." Wyatt walks over and puts his hand on Liam´s shoulder and squeezes it. He then walks over to the other side of the bed and sits down on the other available chair in the cubicle.

Fifteen minutes later, a doctor walks through the curtains where the door is. Liam looks over to see who's intruding and relief is visible on his face.

"It is just a hematoma just under the skin and a concussion, so you are free to go, but we'd like to keep her for observation for the night just to get the head ache under control and see that the pain killer we give her doesn't cause the concussion to turn into something more."

Liam lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and tears of joy falls down his cheeks. "Oh, thank God, of course, keep her for as long as you want. Can I stay with her tonight?"

The doctor smiles. "Of course. Now, I saw she has just had a baby, I think it would be a good idea if she had a small break from the baby these next two days. Concussion, head ache and a baby crying could cause her unneeded stress."

Liam chuckles. "Massimo is currently with his grandmother and it has been arranged that he's going to stay there overnight. Taylor will probably come by with him for a short visit tomorrow, but she'll be keeping him until tomorrow night."

"Good!" The doctor goes to leave. "We'll transfer her in a little bit to the observation unit. Shouldn't be too long."

"Okay, good. Thank you!" Liam smiles.

"It's what we do." The doctor smiles back at Liam.

The next thing Liam does is call Taylor to let her know what's going on. After he hangs up, Wyatt asks a serious question.

"So, are you going to report Hope to the police for assault?" He looks so serious.

"I don't know, I need to speak to Steffy to find that out and she's not in a position to speak about something that serious right now."

"Yeah, I get that. But I think you should. She could get court ordered therapy from it. It might be what she needs."

"I think we should, especially if we can get that outcome." Steffy might be talking really low, almost whispering, but the expression on her face is serious. Liam nods his head before calling the police station. When they ask where they may find Hope, he answers.

"Oh, she's probably at my house trying to figure out how to get into it." He sighs and then they hang up.

~floating memories~

 _Steffy and Liam´s house_

Hope guards herself with her arms around her chest. "Yeah, she claimed I ran her down on the slopes."

Brooke sighs. "Yeah, you did, there's a video floating around the internet of when it happened. But that's not what I wanted to tell you." Brooke nervously rubs her hands together. "Steffy had a set of annulment papers with her when she got there. While in the hospital, she signed them. After she and Liam got back to the house, she gave them to him."

Hope´s eyes light up. "Why didn't he bring them with him when he came home? He knew what waiting for the divorce to be final was doing to me."

"Well, he ripped them up and then pulled Steffy into a hug and kissed her."

She should've probably anticipated the slap, but the fist she got to her face was a little much.

"You're lying! There's no way he would've done that to me! He loves me, he would never hurt me like that!"

"Yeah, I never thought he would've done that either, but after confronting Steffy, her mother and grandmother about it, I went and talked to Liam about it because there was no way Steffy wasn't lying, turns out, she wasn't. Liam admitted that he had ripped those papers up, thrown them in the creek behind the house and then pulled her into his arms and kissed her before picking her up bridal style bringing her back into the house. Don't you see? Liam´s love for Steffy changed during the wait for the divorce to become final. You saw how easily he chose to believe that note in Puglia."

Forty-five minutes later they're still arguing over Liam and his love for Steffy when they hear sirens coming towards them. The police car stops right in front of the driveway blocking Hope´s car from leaving the premises. A female police officer gets out of the car.

"Are you Hope Logan?" She directs the question towards Hope.

"Oh, you know I am." Hope snarls.

She nods her head and walks over to Hope. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, you decide, but you are going to come to the police station and leave your statement as you have been charged with assault on a Ms Stephanie Forrester."

Hope turns to her mother with anger on her face. " **Mom!** You can't do this to me!" Hope almost blows up. "They can't do this to me! I didn't do anything!"

Brooke sighs. "I heard it straight from your own mouth Hope, you pushed her and now she's in the hospital, that's on you and you need to suffer the consequences."

Hope glares at her mother. "I thought you loved me!"

Brooke smiles. "I do, and that's why I'm letting this happen."

"I can't believe this, Steffy reports me to the police and you're not even going to try and defend me?" Hope snarls.

"No, I'm not. Besides, Steffy isn't the one who reported you. Liam is."

"No, he would never do that to me!"

"Well, as we've already established, Liam has been doing a lot of things to you that you never thought he would do, so why not report you to the police for assaulting his fiancé? It's time you realise that he does actually love Steffy more deeply and more true than he ever loved you." Brooke takes a step back as the officer leads her daughter to the car. "I hope you learn something from this."

Brooke then watches as Hope is placed in the backseat, the door close, the officer getting seated in the car and then how they drive off the driveway and into the distance.

Brooke looks around and sees a café set and she goes to take a seat before the tears start falling down her face.

A little time later, a hand is placed on her shoulders and she looks up into the piercing blue eyes of Taylor Hamilton. There's such sadness in her eyes that Brooke breaks down again.

"Come with me." Taylor goes and opens the door to the house having left the baby in his stroller just next to the door as he has fallen asleep.

Brooke stays on the chair on the patio until Taylor comes and leads her inside and into the living room.

"So, what's going on?" Taylor says as she sits down.

"They reported her to the police and I couldn't do a thing because I know they did the right thing." Brooke tries to wipe the tears from her face. "I really screwed up with her. I should have read the signs after she slept with him the first time. Everything was screaming at me that they weren't meant to be, but I didn't see past the fact that Steffy would win. That whole competition has caused so much grief and trouble that never needed to be there."

"Yeah, tell me about that by the way, why was it so important that your daughter won over mine even though you knew it wouldn't end well for her? We both saw the feelings were there between Steffy and Liam, the depth between them were never matched between Liam and Hope."

"I think it had to do with Steffy dumping Rick the way she did."

"Oh please, Steffy dumping Rick had everything to do with his actions. Have you listened to the tape yet?"

Brooke looks at Taylor like she doesn't know what she's talking about, making Taylor chuckle.

"Have you listened to the tape that Ridge recorded of your son taunting him about his relationship with our daughter?" Taylor sees Brooke shake her head. "Maybe if you had, you'd see things differently when it comes to Steffy because you'd know how much your son used her causing her to be resentful towards your side of the family."

"I guess it's time. I don't suppose you have it with you?" Brooke explores the eyes of her former rival of Ridge´s heart.

"No, I don't, I believe Ridge is the only one who still has a copy." All of a sudden Taylor´s attention is focused elsewhere. "Oh, someone just woke up and is hungry." Taylor pushes the button on the bottle warmer and goes to get her grandson. "Oh, little guy, you stink. Time for a diaper change I see."

Taylor walks past Brooke into the nursery and changed Massimo´s diaper and get it done just in time for the bottle to be done. She walks out to the living room with the little boy just as the front door closes. "Well, I guess great aunty Brooke took off then. Probably to see her ex. Let's see if you're hungry."

She sits down on the couch and gets the baby situated, teases him with the bottle and he latches on instantly. Taylor then sits in awe at this little boy in her arms listening to all the little noises he does as he's feeding.

~floating memories~

 _Ridge and Caroline´s place_

There's only one woman that he knows who knocks on the door like that. He tells his stepson to stay where he is while he opens the door.

He puts a smile on his face and greets her as he opens the door. "Brooke Logan, what can I do for you?"

Brooke lets out a big sigh. "You can play me the recording you made of Rick when he and Steffy dated."

Surprise is evident on Ridge´s face. "But I thought you believed that Rick was completely innocent in that mess? Wasn't that what you told me?"

Brooke takes a step back. "Yeah, I did, but I just watched my daughter getting hauled off in a police car because she pushed your daughter causing her to have to go to the hospital, so let´s just say my view on my kid´s innocence is different. I need to hear that recording."

Ridge nods his head and goes to bring his grandson with him before he leads Brooke to his office in the house he shares with Caroline and Douglas.

He tells Brooke to take a seat after finding the file. "All you have to do is press play." He then leaves the room leaving Brooke behind and as the tone and words that her son uses to describe his then fiancé, her former stepdaughter, her current fiancé´s niece and her ex´s daughter and niece makes her sick to her stomach. Then he says that he would take Steffy away just like he did Phoebe and that just does it for her. She presses paus and then she gets up and leaves, rushing out the door not letting Ridge know she left before throwing up in the rose bushes just outside the door.

"Well, that didn't take long did it?" Ridge asks the little boy playing with his horses on the floor next to him.

A little while later, something she said registers in his brain. _"but I just watched my daughter getting hauled off in a police car because she pushed your daughter causing her to have to go to the hospital."_

He reaches for his phone and calls his ex wife, who answers with a question.

" _I take it Brooke stopped by?"_

He chuckles. "She did, how did you know?"

" _Haha, guess where she came from!"_

"I'm guessing you sent her?"

" _No, I didn't, I just said that you're probably the only one who still has a copy of that recording, Massimo then needed changing and a bottle and when we came back into the living room, Brooke had already left. I had a feeling she would go to you."_ Taylor chuckles. _"So, how long did she last?"_

"Well, based on how long she was in there, I guess less than three minutes. Which is longer than I thought she would have."

" _Well, she did last longer than I thought she would. But with her new perspective she might have wanted to make sure she was hearing it right."_

"Yeah, about that new perspective. What was that about?"

" _Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Steffy is doing fine, just a concussion, a bruise and a nasty head ache, nothing to worry about, she's being monitored and they're making sure the pain killers isn't interfering with her concussion much. She'll be fine once her brain stops moving and hurting."_

"Oh, okay, so, you said you've got Massimo?"

" _I do, Liam is at the hospital with Steffy, Massimo is with me at their place to collect more food for him before going back to my place."_

"Good, you wanna come over for dinner?"

" _I think we'd like that a lot, I'll just go home and dump this off and repack the diaper bag and then we'll come over."_

"Sounds like a plan! I'll see you soon!"

" _Yeah! Bye, see you soon!"_

Then the two hang up the phone and Ridge calls Caroline to let her know there will be more people at dinner than originally planned. They hang up and Ridge turns to his future stepson.

"I might have placed my foot in it this time kid. I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good idea." Douglas just smiles big.

The problem was the fact of who exactly was coming to dinner and adding Taylor might be a little too much right now. You see, on the list of people coming was Thomas of course, Caitlin and this was the person who might be the one to clash with Taylor. Nick Marone was stopping by because their biological father had sent him to LA to check on the business there.

About an hour later, the door opens and Caroline walks through the door, carrying bags with groceries. A few minutes after her, the doorbell rings indicating someone else had shown up. Ridge goes to open the door and sees his younger brother on the other side. "Welcome to Casa de Spenester!" He chuckles.

Nick chuckles right along with him. "Well, you'd better put a ring on that pretty soon."

Ridge just smiles. "Oh, I already have. Last night after asking both Thomas and Douglas if they had anything against it. I know we've already been planning the wedding, but I kind of forgot to ask her if she'd marry me again."

"So, who else is coming to dinner?"

"Well, my son, his current girlfriend and our ex-wife, who's bringing our grandson other than Douglas, Caroline and I. But I think we might be a given?"

"Our ex-wife? You mean Brooke is coming?"

Ridge chuckles. "No, not Brooke. She's already been here and left in quite a hurry I might add."

Just as he finishes talking, there's a knock on the door, so low that they might have been able to miss it. Nick is closer to the door though so he goes and opens it. He opens the door and is floored.

"Taylor?" Nick looks at her closely. "What are you doing here?"

Ridge then chuckles and Nick turns to look at him. "Meet our ex-wife!" He then shifts his attention from his brother to his former wife. "Now, where is my grandson?"

Taylor smiles at him. "He's sleeping, will probably wake up in fifteen minutes or so."

Nick looks confused. "Grandson? I thought he was upstairs sleeping right now?"

Taylor and Ridge look at each other before bursting out laughing. "You haven't told him yet?"

"No, I haven't, he's your brother!"

"Yeah, but he's the father of your son."

"He is, I'll give you that, but he is biologically related to you, he isn't to me. Where is Jack by the way?" Taylor´s attention turns from Ridge to Nick.

"Oh, he's having grandma time right now. I'm just here for a short visit. So, now, what am I supposed to have been told?"

Taylor grabs him by the arm with a smile and brings him outside to peer down into a stroller. "Now, tell me who you think this little guy looks like." She says with a proud smile on her face.

He looks down at the little boy in the stroller and sees the tell-tale signs of this being a grandson of Taylor and Ridge. He turns his attention towards Taylor. "Steffy had a baby? When?"

"About two weeks ago. Meet Massimo Jack Forrester!"

"Massimo Jack?" Nick looks down at the little boy with awe. "Does dad know his granddaughter named her son after him?"

This makes Taylor wonder if her daughter had actually told Massimo that she had named her son after him. She decides she's going to have to talk to her about that.

Inside, Ridge has gone to the kitchen to help his fiancé. "Well, that went better than I thought it would."

Caroline just laughs.

Soon the other two guests arrive and dinner continues. It was actually quite the success. There were never any awkward pauses and conversation flowed very well.

Liam had stopped by for a quick update on Steffy and what was happening as well as seeing his son before going back to the hospital, turns out the head aches had stopped pretty soon after Steffy had been transferred and then everything just looked better and better. Liam had to get back because he had to relieve Wyatt of his duties as Steffy-watcher. So, after half an hour of Liam feeding, changing and putting his son to sleep, he leaves to go be with his fiancé again.

As the clock trickled by, Caroline put Douglas to bed, then went to bed herself. Ridge followed shortly after. Thomas and Caitlin left just after that leaving only Nick and Taylor still up. As the clock strike 11 PM, Taylor looks at it and realises it's very late. "So, you need a ride back to the hotel? I need to go home and find my bed because little man is going to wake up soon for his midnight feed."

"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you!" Nick looks her in the eyes.

"Of course, your welcome! Let me just grab everything and put him in the car and then we'll go."

"I can help with that?" Nick offers.

"Thank you!"

They gather everything Taylor had brought with her and then they leave the house as Taylor pushes a button causing the door to lock as she closes the door.

They get in the car and Taylor realises she's forgotten to ask where he's living, but Nick's already fallen asleep, so she drives herself home knowing he could just sleep in her guestroom just as well as at the hotel. She pulls up the driveway and then tries to get his attention.

"Hey Nick! Wake up!"

He wakes up in a haze, doesn't know where he is and then he turns towards her. "Huuh?"

"We're at my place, I know I said I'd take you to the hotel, but you were sleeping and I need to get ready for the midnight feed so I thought you'd just take my guest bedroom for tonight."

He yawns before nodding his head. Hearing the little sounds coming from the car seat in the back, the two adults get to work on getting everything inside.

Nick grabs the diaper bag after being told to just press the button on the bottle warmer that's on the counter as he enters the house after Taylor opened the door for him, Taylor then goes to get the baby and the stroller.

When she gets inside, Nick has fallen asleep on the couch, but has managed to press the button. The pling letting her know the bottle is warm enough rings out and just as it does, Massimo wakes up. "Let's go into the bedroom little guy, let's leave great uncle Nick sleeping out here in the living room."

~floating memories~

 _Brooke´s house_

 _Earlier that day_

She walks through the door of her house still reeling from finding out what Rick really thought of Steffy during their relationship and that Hope had actually caused Steffy to end up in the hospital and not for the first time either. Apparently, it's happened more than once before.

When she sees her fiancé come through the doors to the kitchen, she lets out a deep sigh.

"Hey!" He can tell she's been through something that's caused her grief. "What's going on?"

"You know how I asked if you thought Hope would do something to the baby?" Thorne nods his head. "Well, technically she didn't do anything to the baby, but she did do something to Steffy and that something landed Steffy in the hospital and Massimo is currently in Taylor´s care because both Liam and Steffy are currently in the hospital. Steffy is under observation and Liam wanted to be there with her. When I spoke to Hope, she flat out told me she'd done it, but then changed her mind when the police came to take her to the station for questioning. Then I broke down. Let's just say I've had a really bad day."

Thorne walks over and brings her into his arms.

Across town, at Spencer Publications, rumours of the news that Hope Logan has been charged with assault charges against the owner´s son´s fiancé spreads fast. Bill kills those rumours fairly quickly as he refuses to drag that family down more than he needs to. But because he's curious, he closes the door before calling his ex-wife. She answers fairly quickly.

"So, I've been hearing through the grape wine that our son's cousin had it out with our son´s brother´s girlfriend. Is that true?"

" _I'm sorry what? What's going on?"_

"Well, apparently Steffy is currently in the hospital under observation and Hope has been hauled down to the police station to be questioned in regards to the assault leading to Steffy being in the hospital. That's all I know."

" _Oh no, she's gone too far this time. You might just wanna disappear from the face of the earth for a while, there's only one thing that could be worse than this and if Hope gets her way, Ridge will probably be coming for you soon."_ He can hear her cursing under her breath.

"What do you mean?"

" _Hope´s not exactly thrilled with the fact that everyone is supporting Steffy and Liam in their relationship because she cheated on him with you."_

"Yeah, I know, she came to see me today, asking why I haven't been fighting for Steffy. She didn't like my answer."

" _Well, took her long enough. I thought she would've come to you earlier than this. Thank you_ _for supporting your son and his fiancé."_

"He's asked her to marry him again?"

" _He has, two weeks ago, but apparently that wasn't enough for Hope to listen to what we had do say."_

"Well, good for them. I'm happy he found a way to work past all that. So, how are you and Wyatt doing?"

" _We're good. We found ourselves on the same page regarding most that has to do with everything in life, he also knows my issues with having kids so we've been talking about that as well and came to the conclusion that we'll just go our separate ways, we split up about a week and half ago. I know he's met someone new, or old rather, apparently, they were sweethearts in high school. It's amazing how things work out."_

"As long as you are all happy, that's all that matters."

" _Yeah, we both knew we weren't going to last longer than we did, he's young and he's got kids on his mind now since Massimo was born."_

"Massimo?" She can hear the confusion in his voice.

" _Yeah, Steffy and Liam´s son was born two weeks ago."_

"They've had a baby?"

" _Yes, I thought you would've known this? Steffy got pregnant in October, slept with you in November and then you dragged her off to Europe in December."_

"Well, as you know, my oldest sons have disowned me, this is the first time I've ever heard of there being a pregnancy to talk about." Bill starts looking things up online.

There's absolutely no trace of there ever being a pregnancy to talk about.

" _Yeah, Steffy spent most of the pregnancy in Paris with Taylor, they just got back to the states about four, maybe five weeks ago. Steffy spent the weeks leading up to the birth of their son prepping for the baby and rearranging the house, Liam almost moved out during that time."_ Katie chuckles.

"You know, it's been a long time since I heard you laughing. I'm happy you're happy."

" _Yeah, Massimo´s birth put a lot of things into perspective."_

"Yeah, losing my sons put a lot into perspective too."

" _Yeah, life altering situations tend to do that to you. So, do you intend to do something to gain their trust back?"_

"Yup, I intend to stay away, I'm not going to force myself back into their life, if they at some point feel like they miss me, I'm going to let them come to me. If anything happens, it will happen on their terms."

" _Sounds like a plan. You just leave everything as it is and maybe they'll bring you back into their lives."_ He can hear the approval in her words.

"So, should I come get Will tomorrow morning to bring him to school?"

Hearing on his voice that he was about to end the conversation, Katie agrees with Bill taking Will to school tomorrow and says that they'll see each other then. The two then end their conversation.

~floating memories~

 _The next afternoon_

 _Steffy´s hospital room._

There's a quiet knock on the door and it's almost so quiet that neither of them hears it, the head ache still roaming Steffy´s head caused her to notice it though. She waves to Liam that someone´s at the door.

He walks over and opens it, letting his future mother in law and the couple´s son through the door.

The joy that spreads over Steffy´s face let´s both father and grandmother know they made the right call having Taylor bring Massimo over. Since Massimo is sleeping, Taylor lifts him up, brings him over to Steffy and lays him down next to her, being the good little baby that he is, he wakes up instantly as he recognizes the smell of his mother and just looks at her. It's almost as if he senses that his mother isn't doing well.

When there's another knock on the door, Steffy´s face crunches up in pain, Liam opens the door and lets the person on the other side in through the door. When Steffy sees who it is, she turns her head slowly towards her mother with confusion on it.

"Oh, Nick was at a dinner your father and Caroline held last night, I was invited last minute I think and when it was over, I offered to drive him back to his hotel, however he fell asleep before I could ask him so I drove home with little man. Nick then spent the night on my couch." Taylor offers as an explanation in a low voice.

Steffy turns to her uncle. "Really? You didn't even make it to the wonder that is her guest bedroom?"

Nick chuckles as he shakes his head. He walks over and bends down next to the bed so she doesn't have to turn her whole body around. "So, how come I didn't know about this one before last night?"

Steffy´s surprise is evident all over her face and she turns to her mother. "Neither you nor dad told him?"

"No, I figured it was your news to tell." Taylor has taken a seat next to Liam. "So, speaking of never telling anyone anything. Have you told your grandfather that his great grandson was named after him?"

The pride on both Liam and Steffy´s faces makes it clear that they have indeed told both Jack and Massimo that they named their grandson after them. "We did that the day after we came home from the hospital. Let's just say that grandpa Mas was ecstatic! Grandpa Jack was the same." Liam says.

"Yeah, they're supposedly both coming to visit next week."

This causes Nick´s frown to appear. He turns to Taylor. "But if dad is coming here next week, why on earth did he have to send me here to check things out?"

At this point, Steffy and Liam look at each other and chuckle. Taylor squints at her daughter. "Tell me you didn't have anything to do with Nick being here right now!"

"I did not have anything to do with uncle Nick being here right now." Steffy says and Taylor can hear the truth in her words.

"I kind of do though." Liam chuckles as he sees the faces present on Taylor and Nick´s faces. "Oh, please don't be mad. I just let it slip that Taylor was living in LA to be present for us and our little boy and he got this certain tone to his voice, I didn't actually think he'd send you over here." His tone apologetic.

"Oh, it's nothing. I found it to be a really funny dinner last night and we got to catch up, I also got to find out my brother was made a grandfather again. He looks really good by the way. Caroline really keeps him grounded."

All three of the other adults in the room nod their heads. Taylor though have noticed that Steffy has stopped paying attention and she can see that her head ache has gotten worse since they got here. "I think it's time we took our behinds home, it's about time for another feed soon and he'll probably be in need of a diaper change." Taylor starts loading up the stuff she brought with her before turning to Liam. "I take it you'll be dropping by to put your son to bed?"

Liam just nods his head because he can see the head ache in Steffy´s eyes.

Nick turns back towards his niece and sees it himself. "You did good kid! Keep it up!"

Steffy smiles through the pain and Taylor reaches for the button before she scoops the baby up and places him in the car seat again.

Steffy and Taylor tell each other they love the other, Nick chimes in that he loves Steffy too and then the two oldest and the youngest leave. Steffy turns her head towards her fiancé.

"I can't believe we forgot to tell uncle Nick."

"Well, you can't remember everyone. Some time you just got to trust the grape wine."

Steffy nods her head. As she does, a nurse quietly walks through the door and gives Steffy something for the pain.

~floating memories~

 _The next afternoon._

 _Brooke´s house._

Brooke has been forewarned that her daughter would be returning home that afternoon and she's pretty sure her homecoming won't be pretty having heard from the officer that called that Hope had been very angry at her mother when she got there because Brooke hadn't done anything to stop the ride to the police station from happening. Therefore, she was sitting in the living room waiting for her daughter to walk through the door. Thorne had been placed in the kitchen to back her up in case she needed it.

As the door opens, she can see the fumes coming from her daughter´s nose and ears. Hope just glares at her mother when she sees her. Brooke looks at her daughter with indifference in her eyes. "So, did you learn anything during your latest adventure?"

Hope chuckles. "Yeah, that I clearly can't trust my own mother to stand by me when the police come for me."

Brooke just shakes her head. "Yeah, like you didn't have that coming? How many times did you think you could use violence against Steffy before they sent you down to the police station for questioning? This isn't the first time you've done so, at some point they have to have you take responsibility for your own actions and I'm sorry that I haven't taught you how to do that."

Hope glares at her mother. "You're supposed to be my mother, you're supposed to support me in everything I do. What happened to the mother that practically begged me to sleep with a man to takes his wife´s power away?"

Brooke tilts her head and smiles towards her daughter. "She had a wake-up call."

Brooke puts down the pen and pad she's been writing on. "So, when is your court date?"

"August 24th. About two weeks from now. In the mean time I can't have any contact with either Steffy, Liam or anyone who's related to either of them. So, Thorne will have to move out."

Having already heard this from the officer that called her, Brooke has already made plans for Hope.

"You'll be living at a hotel for the next few weeks, the police have been notified of where you'll be staying so don't try anything."

Hope has started moving towards the stairs before Brooke started talking, but she stops and turns around with a horrified look on her face. "You're kicking me out? My mother is seriously kicking me out?"

"No, I'm not kicking you out. Kicking you out would mean that I haven't found somewhere for you to live and I have in fact done just that. What I'm doing is forcing you to take the consequences of your actions and learn from them."

Hope turns around and looks her mother clear in the eyes. "Have you learned something from your actions?"

Brooke lets out a breath. "I have actually, I've learned that I was wrong. About so many things. But most of all, I've learned that I've caused so much pain that wasn't needed."

She looks towards the door into the kitchen. "I've also learned that not everything needs to happen right now and instantly. Love can grow from nothing into friendship and from there to romantic love. An instant connection is often not something to build a relationship on. Steffy and Liam taught me that. They grew into love and taking back what ever I felt about them back then, I can see now that that is how they were meant to be."

"Yeah, no, Steffy and Liam aren't meant to be, they never were. Liam is meant for me, there's only one reason for him being on this planet and that is to love me."

Brooke sighs. "Yeah?" Hope nods. "Well, who's he's been spending time with while you've been here these last two weeks? The woman he's been engaged to the last two weeks or you, the woman whom is the only supposed reason for him being on this planet?"

Hope glares at her mother once again before walking up the stairs. Thorne walks through the door.

"Do you think she got the message?" He links his arm around her waist.

"No, I don't think she will until she's in that courtroom."

~floating memories~

 _20 minutes after Hope´s court hearing._

Hope turns around to look at her mother. Brooke just sighs before turning her attention back at the little boy laying in her fiancé´s arms.

Massimo had been passed around since witnesses had been called. Currently he was laying happily in his great uncle´s arms cooing, causing the whole courtroom to awe at him.

Hope had been sentenced to community service and she had a full year of court ordered therapy ahead of her. There was also a restraining order put in place from the moment Steffy, Liam and Massimo walked out the door after leaving the court house.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me."

"Well, your father should be coming back from prison soon, maybe you should live with him for a while. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to revoke your invitation to Thorne and I´s wedding. Liam, Steffy and Massimo will be there and as it stands right now, you're not allowed near them."

Hearing this, Steffy walks over. "Oh, Brooke, I'm not entirely sure we'll be up for a wedding tomorrow, so if you don't mind, Hope can come."

Hope watches her mother turn towards Steffy with concern in her eyes, this just makes her angry. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, have fun at the wedding and don't worry about us, we'll be fine. I'm not entirely over my concussion and Liam has been worrying about how this would turn out so he'll probably sleep when the wedding is happening anyway. If you wouldn't mind coming by before leaving for the honeymoon though I have something I wanted to give the two of you."

Brooke looks over her face and can actually see Steffy´s head starting to hurt again. She nods. "We'll stop by before leaving for our honeymoon."

Then she turns to Liam. "Hey, you better get your fiancé home, she's working on a head ache."

Liam comes walking over and fetches his son before guiding Steffy out of the building. Brooke watches before turning over to Taylor. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Taylor turns to Nick. "Yeah, we'll be there all of us." She says before turning towards the gallery to see Jackie, Owen, Bridget, Jack, Logan and Rick sitting there.

They had decided that Hope wasn't to be trusted, so Ridge, Caroline and Douglas had been told not to come to the hearing, and it had been a good decision, because Hope had spilled the beans the first, second and fourth thing she did. Leading to her being held in contempt and that's what lead her to community service. Had she not done that, court ordered therapy would've been all she'd gotten and that's because it's what Steffy and Liam had said they wanted for her. And she had to pay for Steffy´s last visit to the hospital and the bills weren't cheap.

~floating memories~

 _Brooke Logan´s living room._

 _The next day._

"It has taken us over thirty years to get where we are today and our first attempt at this crashed and burned sooner then we would've liked, however, letting it grow into something more rather than force it has helped us form a stronger bond then we had back then. I am glad that we crashed back then because it made us take a path that led to us growing up in the time in between. I am so happy that we decided to try again and that it worked out better this time. I love you, Brooke Forrester and I will continue to do so!"

Brooke looks up at her brand-new husband as he gives her and them a toast.

It had been a beautiful wedding with just the closest family and some of their friends there. Rick had decided not to come, Forrester International needed him more. Bridget had come and stayed through half the reception, but she had booked an early flight back to New York the next morning so she had left early. Hope had fumed through the entire ceremony and glared at both her mother and her mother´s fiancé turned husband, she had also been letting things slip that she shouldn't. Caroline and Ridge had been there for the ceremony, but had opted to leave after that. Kristen and Felicia stayed behind though with their significant others, although Tony left about two thirds into the reception due to his energy getting low.

As things were winding down, Brooke looks across the room searching for her daughter, what she sees is not making her happy.

Hope is sitting in an armchair glaring at her mother and Brooke can just see when she makes the decision. She knew that Hope had hoped that Liam would've been at the reception without Steffy there so she could seduce him, Brooke had walked behind her on the way out from the courthouse yesterday and heard her mumbling about it and since Liam had decided with Steffy not to be there, she should've known things weren't going to turn out well. But they're about to leave for their honeymoon and Brooke just doesn't have the time to warn everyone face to face, so as she goes to change out of her wedding dress, she picks up her phone and sends off a 911 message to Taylor, Caroline and Steffy.

Having not left Brooke and Thorne´s house just yet, Taylor takes it upon herself to keep Hope under observation. She sees her leave and goes outside to find her car, gets in it and when she recognizes Hope´s car a little way down the road, she takes off after her. Just as Hope is walking through the fence at Ridge and Caroline´s home, Taylor reaches out, grabs her arm and pulls her back towards the car. Hope clearly isn't happy with how she's being handled.

" **What** are you doing? Get your hand off of me!" Hope growls. Then Hope uses a word that's not entirely nice.

"Oh really, I'm a what now?" Taylor chuckles. "Aren't you the one who's currently going behind everyone in the family´s back? Do you really think Liam will come back to you just cause you told Ridge about November? You seriously couldn't believe more wrong."

"Liam belongs with me and I still don't believe that baby is Liam´s, there's no way."

"Okay, so, should we check the numbers then? Steffy ended up in the hospital in December, when I got there in January, she was already three months pregnant which would make that beautiful little boy of theirs conceived in…..?" Taylor looks at Hope expectantly.

"October." Hope glares at the woman standing in front of her.

"And Steffy slept with Bill in…?" Taylor raises her eyebrows.

"November." Anger starts spreading through Hope and she starts shaking.

"Which is the month after…?"

"October."

"So, tell me, how can that little boy be anyone´s but Liam´s?"

"She could've slept with Bill before that, we don't know."

"Okay, so, say she did, why did the paternity test they had done on the boy at the hospital say that Liam is the father of that baby. You need to let this go, Hope. It's not good for you to walk around with all this resentment. Maybe you need to go back to Milan, because until you understand the damage you could put upon this family if you tell Ridge what happened in November, you really shouldn't be in LA." Taylor looks up at the window where she knows Ridge and Caroline have their bedroom and sees a figure standing by the window, as she sees the figure nod, she realizes it's Caroline.

"Yeah, no, why shouldn't Ridge know that his daughter whored herself out to his worst enemy?"

"Because, if Ridge finds out, you can be sure he'll end up in jail, possibly for murder and even if you do tell Ridge, you won't get Liam back, he does not want you anymore."

She should've expected the slap, she really should have. As she turns back to face Hope again, Hope has gotten closer and points her finger in Taylor´s face.

"Liam belongs to me, he was put on this earth to make me happy and we will be together again, there's nothing anyone can do to stop it." Hope grins. "He won't be with your daughter for long, he'll be standing by my side by the end of the year, you can count on that."

Taylor is so flabbergasted that she starts laughing. "You know, you've always stated that you don't want to be like your mother, well, the transformation is complete."

"I am nothing like my mother."

"Oh, so you're not getting ready to bust up a family with a small child then? Cause your mother tried to do that. Many times." Taylor has grabbed a hold of Hope´s chin. "Often it was my family with Ridge all in the name of destiny. No Hope, you are exactly like your mother. Well, like your mother used to be, I can see the change in her, even more so now since she let herself fall for Thorne again."

Hope growls and gets in the car to ride off. Because she doesn't trust her former rival´s daughter, Taylor stays behind just waiting for Hope to come back.

~Floating memories~

 **AN:**

 **I think we'll stop here for now. So, do you think Hope will be coming back?**

 **You know what to do!**


End file.
